In the main event of Bellator 216, the long-anticipated match between Michael Venom Page (MVP and Paul Daley will take place in the first round of the Welterweight Grand Prix. One of the many factors that make the fight as hyped as it is is because of the animosity between the two Englishmen. One of the reasons for that animosity stems from a general lack of respect for the other party and what they stand for. In MVP’s case, part of that disrespect stems from the temperament of his nemesis (Transcript via MMAmania.com):
“In my opinion, Paul’s a very childish person, a very impulsive person,” MVP said on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show on Monday. “Look at his history, he’s been kicked off the UFC before through that very same impulsive action. Especially when he loses, he’s a very sore loser.”
The “history” Michael Page is referring to is Paul Daley striking Josh Koscheck after the bell at UFC 113, effectively bringing an end to Daley’s UFC career. MVP believes that given this history along with the emotions and animosity leading into the Bellator 216 main event, he has good reason to not let his guard down if he winds up sharing space with a Paul Daley who is fresh off of a stinging defeat and who failed to find solutions to the frustrating style that Page puts forth:
“Even now my coach is like ‘After the fight, all goes to plan, you have to stay on guard,” MVP said. “The fight’s not over because the bell’s done, he’s that kind of person that it may continue. It may spill over.
“I can be frustrating as a fighter, let alone as a person,” Page said. “I can frustrate people, I can get into people’s heads. And I feel like that’s what I was able to do then. He’s trying to backtrack now which I don’t understand. He’s trying to play it all calm, ‘There’s no real issues between us’, trying to play it all Mr. Nice Guy. I don’t get it but it comes across as fake because the second I say anything he bites. There’s an immediate explosion in him. And it is what it is, I think I’m living in his head right now and it’s gonna take its toll through this whole promotional period and then we get to the fight.”
Do you believe Paul Daley would get violent if he were to lose to MVP at Bellator 216?
