Barnett warns Misfits faces collapse after Page claims seven-figure deal per fight

Josh Barnett has issued a stark warning about Misfits Boxing’s financial future after Michael ‘Venom’ Page revealed the terms of his new three-fight deal with the promotion, claiming it will pay him more than he earned across all six of his UFC bouts combined.

Page, who departed the UFC following a 5-1 promotional record after the organisation declined to renew his contract, says he will earn seven figures per fight under his new arrangement with MF Sports’ Misfits. The Englishman framed the deal as a significant upgrade on his UFC earnings.

Barnett, a former UFC heavyweight champion, responded sharply on X, casting doubt on the accuracy of Page’s claims while simultaneously raising the possibility that they could be true — and that the truth would be even more alarming.

“Either Page is telling a very bold lie for publicity sake,” Barnett wrote, “or [Misfits] has decided to run the same old formula of: jumping into the MMA market, overspending like mad, burning through all their capital in record speed, and soon to be another gravestone in the marketplace due to either incompetence or intent to raise and burn capital on the way to fire-sailing what remains — in what amounts to a cash grab scam with the skinsuit of making a top tier MMA company/UFC competitor.”

Barnett invoked a series of high-profile MMA promotions that collapsed after aggressive spending, naming EliteXC, Affliction, the International Fight League, and World Series of Fighting as cautionary precedents. Each entered the market with ambition and significant financial backing before folding, often leaving fighters in difficult contractual and financial positions.

His central concern was not merely the viability of Misfits as a business, but the downstream consequences for the athletes on its roster. “Oh, and it’s the FIGHTERS in the end who truly get screwed over… again,” he added.

Misfits has not publicly responded to Barnett’s comments. Page has yet to fight under the new deal.