Michael Page interested to fight Shara Magomedov at middleweight: 'I bet I get him to try to take me down'

Michael Page would move up to middleweight to fight Shara Magomedov.

Magomedov (15-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) called out former champion Israel Adesanya after his spectacular knockout of Armen Petrosyan this past Saturday at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. Adesanya told Magomedov to keep his name out of his mouth, but MVP is happy to swoop in and take that fight. He sees a fight between him and Magomedov being a striker’s delight.

“The hairs on the back of my neck went up when I heard Shara ‘Bullet’ call out my boy Izzy,” Page said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I was like, my boy Izzy is working on regaining that throne, let me jump in. I’m happy to do it. You’re talking about being the best striker. He says in his division, but right now I’m grappling in your division. So, why not? At 185, happy to jump up.”

Page (22-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who most recently was outgrappled in a close decision loss to Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303 in June, is keeping active by competing in a grappling match. He meets former WEC champion and former UFC interim champion Carlos Condit in the Polaris 30 main event on Saturday in London.

He was highly impressed with Magomedov’s double backfist finish of Petrosyan but is confident that “Bullet” would eventually try and grapple him if they fought.

“Absolutely beautiful, I really enjoyed that,” Page said. “And it was definitely something he’s drilled before, so I really like that. It’s a very nice shot. When it comes to striking, I just fear nobody. I bet I get him to try to take me down. He’s going to get panicky in some way, shape, or form. I bet he tries and takes me down, but if he doesn’t and just stands with me then I just think it’s going to be an exceptional MMA fight.”