Michael Page was a free agent for about three days before someone made a move.
Page fought out his UFC contract on Saturday in Paris, beating Nursulton Ruziboev by unanimous decision on all three cards. The crowd booed, he was not given the in-cage interview a co-main event winner normally gets, and the UFC removed him from rankings eligibility on Monday. Dana White has now said it is pretty obvious the promotion does not intend to re-sign him, despite Page wanting to stay.
Jake Paul did not need longer than that. His Most Valuable Promotions merged with the PFL in July, and he posted on X on Wednesday.
Think it’s time to bring MVP to MVP.
Page leaves as a ranked middleweight on a four-fight winning streak. He went 5-1 in the Octagon with wins over Jared Cannonier, Kevin Holland, Shara Magomedov, Sam Patterson and Ruziboev, and a single loss to Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303. All six of those fights went to a decision, which is the whole problem.
Robert Whittaker put it plainly this week, saying he could not bring himself to watch the Paris fight live and that nobody in the UFC beats Page over what he called point-sparring. Whittaker also understood the logic behind it, noting that fighters get paid more for winning.
Page had said before the fight that he and the UFC were finally clear that middleweight was where he belonged, and that he wanted more regular bouts there. He responded to the criticism afterward by promising to do better.
