Whittaker admits he couldn't watch Page's UFC Paris points win: 'I didn't even want to'

Robert Whittaker has admitted he could barely bring himself to watch Michael ‘Venom’ Page’s decision win over Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC Paris last Saturday, describing the Englishman’s style as mesmerising in theory but punishing to sit through in real time.

“No, I can’t, because I didn’t even want to watch it, and I have nothing but respect for ‘MVP,’” Whittaker said on his MMArcade Podcast. “His ability to do what he does at his age is crazy. It’s like he’s dancing in there. He’s so fast and fluid, but I find it so hard to tune in live to MVP winning via points, rather than watching it back afterwards.”

Page improved his UFC record to 5-1 with the win, extending a four-fight winning streak that also includes a decision over former middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier. The 39-year-old holds the distinction of being the only fighter to defeat Shara Bullet. Yet despite those credentials, his UFC tenure has been largely defined by a shortage of highlight-reel moments — a pattern Whittaker believes is entirely deliberate.

“I feel like it’s almost like he has a live feed of the judges’ scorecards, like, in real time,” Whittaker said. “As soon as it starts to drop, he just does a little bit more, and it goes back up. He just does enough, which is the game, right? But man, it makes it hard to watch.”

Whittaker stopped short of criticising Page’s effectiveness, adding: “I reckon there isn’t a single person that can beat MVP over point-sparring in the UFC. He’s so good at it.”

Page himself acknowledged the criticism after UFC Paris, vowing to “do better” in future performances. The question now is whether those future performances will come inside the UFC octagon at all. Page has been removed from the promotion’s official rankings eligibility following the Ruziboev bout, a move that typically signals a fighter is no longer on the active roster. Saturday’s contest was widely known to be the final fight on his UFC contract.

Should Page depart, he would leave having built his wider reputation during a prolific run in Bellator, where a string of viral knockouts made him one of the most-shared fighters in the sport. Translating that star power into consistent pay-per-view appeal has proved elusive in the UFC, and wherever he competes next, promoters face the same challenge: selling a fighter whose technical mastery rarely produces the moments casual fans remember.