Michael Page opens up on fighting future before his deal's final fight at UFC Paris against Nursulton Ruziboev

Michael Page, who's fast approaching the final fight of his current UFC contract, has opened up about the same and more. 

The striking savant has reiterated that he'd like to re-sign with the UFC and is, as such, looking to make a statement in his upcoming fight. 

Michael Page is keen on re-signing with the UFC but promises activity in combat sports career even if he moves elsewhere

Michael Page is all set to compete against rising star Nursulton Ruziboev this weekend.

Speaking to Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie, Page indicated that he's eyeing the UFC middleweight championship. Apparently, though he'd previously wanted to capture the UFC welterweight title, he believes that many contenders in that weight class are simply waiting for opportunities rather than fighting each other to ascend the rankings. 

Ergo, he sees a clearer path for him to win UFC gold in the middleweight division. Nevertheless, Page acknowledged that he first needs to win his upcoming fight and do so in an impressive fashion, so as to encourage the UFC to sign him to a new deal. 

Seemingly downplaying any potential pressure he's feeling heading into the last fight of his deal, Page stated, "I'm not trying to put any pressure on it. Because I'm happy with my career." 

The Englishman added, "I wanna do more. But I'm happy with what I've achieved, where I've come, how well I've done, you know, the name I've created for myself. Yeah, just demonstrating being a true martial artist in terms of -- I did everything. I've done bare-knuckle now, Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, kickboxing." 

He continued, "And I hope that we continue doing more things even if we don't stay in the UFC. But I just feel like I've got unfinished business, which is why I wanna stay. But it's not all up to me." 

Watch Michael "Venom" Page address his imminent Octagon appearance, combat sports future, and more below (*comments at the 9:02-minute mark of the video): 

Michael "Venom" Page looks to extend his win streak against Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC Paris

Michael Page has competed in multiple combat sports over the course of his long and storied career. That includes boxing, kickboxing, a lone bare-knuckle boxing match in the form of a thriller against BKFC icon Mike Perry, and his MMA journey. 

Page was known to be one of the mainstays of Bellator MMA for around a decade. Moreover, his UFC debut in 2024 witnessed him outpoint Kevin Holland in a welterweight matchup. He was outpointed by Ian Machado Garry later that year. 

The 1-1 welterweight run inside the Octagon was followed by his move up to the UFC middleweight division, wherein he secured unanimous decision victories against Shara Magomedov and Jared Cannonier last year. The 39-year-old's next, and most recent fight, saw him beat Sam Patterson by way of unanimous decision at welterweight earlier this year.

Meanwhile, his opponent Nursulton Ruziboev is also on a three-fight winning streak. The 32-year-old is fresh off a submission victory against Andrey Pulyaev from earlier this year.

Page is scheduled to take on Uzbekistan's Ruziboev in a middleweight showdown at UFC Paris, which will transpire at the Accor Arena on September 5.

Furthermore, the legendary striker will try his hand at freestyle wrestling, as he makes his Real American Freestyle (RAF) wrestling promotional debut next month -- he'll take on fellow MMA veteran Alexander Shlemenko at RAF 14 on October 23.