Logan Storley achieved one of his ultimate goals at Bellator 281 when he became the promotion’s interim welterweight champion, but his split decision win over Michael “Venom” Page has also come along with a mountain of criticism.
The four-time All-American wrestler from the University of Minnesota grounded Page with a grappling-heavy performance to win the interim belt, scoring multiple takedowns in the 25-minute fight. Afterward, Page slammed Storley’s game plan in an appearance on The MMA Hour, saying the wrestler “didn’t come to inflict damage, he came to survive.”
In response, Storley fired back at Page for his inability to stop his wrestling, much less get up from the bottom to do much damage of his own on the feet.
“I think he’s a great dude and he’s a hell of a fighter and I respect the hell out of ‘MVP,’ but at the end of the day, you couldn’t stop a takedown,” Storley told MMA Fighting. “You couldn’t stop anything I was doing on top. I couldn’t be stopped. If you have a problem like that, don’t worry.
” I stood with you for probably 10, 11 minute of the fight. Why didn’t your drop me? I was hurt by you. You gave me all of the fight in round four, and we both were tired. Why didn’t I knock you out? He said nothing before the fight, except that it only took one second. Why did you not do that? This is my question. You’re that good. Why didn’t I knock you out in the one second it took ?”
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Page had his best performance in the fourth round, however he spent the majority of the fight fending off Storley’s wrestling, which was really the story of the bout.
Storley complimented Page on his quickness and distance control regarding the moments the action did stay standing, but the flashy Englishman still failed to land anything that really dazzled the judges scoring cageside.
” You can’t just sit there and make excuses after a fight,” Storley stated. “I stood on the feet with you for eight to 10 minutes and you couldn’t hurt me. You’re the best striker in the world and your speed is lightning fast, then you won’t be able to hurt me .
Storley took issue with Page’s claim that he needed only to correct “one” thing in his game, and he would be “the most deadly MMA fighter in all of .”
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“I just think it’s kind of arrogant,” Storley said. “I really respect him, I think he’s a great dude, but guess what? I’m not as skilled in boxing as I am in wrestling and don’t have the 20 years.
“It is funny to hear fighters saying, “If I fix one thing I can beat that guy.” I wish you all the luck in your endeavors.
Storley also faced criticism from Bellator MMA president Scott Coker, who declared afterwards that he scored the fight for Page. Coker criticized Storley’s wrestling-heavy strategy, which he felt didn’t pose any serious threats to the fight. Instead, he said that Storley was “laying on someone,” which is not MMA .
While Storley understands that everybody is entitled to their opinion — including his boss at Bellator — the 29-year-old South Dakota native isn’t going to apologize for taking his best possible path to victory.
” “It’s up to him what he wants,” Storley stated. “I think Scott scored it 48-47 Page, but which two rounds are you giving me? If you’re going to give me two rounds, why not give me the other two? At this stage, you’re guessing. I respect Scott, me and him have a good relationship, but you can’t just pick and choose rounds that, ‘Oh, MVP won this.’ One, two, three, and five was clearly me, so which rounds are you giving me?
“I respect Scott and we have a good relationship and Bellator’s done a lot for me. I love working for those guys, but I get it. NeimanGracie is a huge guy — I defeated him. You have MVP and you can draw the U.K. — I beat him. You can be crazy if that’s what you desire. But I don’t care. I’m a world champ, and if they’re not happy, put whoever you have in front of me next.”
In the big scheme of things Storley admits that there is still much to learn, but he won’t regret beating Page the best way possible.
” I’m smart and can calculate and know the best places to find people, but I just did my job and now I have the belt,” Storley stated.
“If anyone has a problem with that, I’m sorry. Although I love to see exciting fights, I only did what was necessary to win this fight .”
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