Michael Page feels he’ll be the undisputed welterweight champion should he defeat Logan Storley on Friday.
Page will face Storley for the interim title in the main event at Bellator 281 in London, England. Page had been scheduled to face Yaroslov Amosov to claim the title, however Amosov withdrew his title defense in order to support his Ukrainian country against Russia.
On Thursday, Page was asked if he feels the interim title name would be warranted, or if he believes there would be two non-interim champions. “MVP” says there will only be one in his eyes.
“I look at it as I am the champ, I’m about to take the belt home, I’m the champion of this division,” Page told reporters at the Bellator 281 media day. “The only difference is, when this whole situation with Amosov is settled and he’s able to come back, he gets to jump to the front of the line to fight the champ. That’s it.”
Page, of course, says this with full respect to what the undefeated Amosov is currently doing — which is bigger than sports.
” “It’s an absurd situation,” Page stated. “The fact that I can sit here and tell people the reason why I’m not fighting this guy is because he went off to war is crazy in itself. This is not a lie. It just goes to show where the world stands right now.
” For me, what is going on makes my feelings in this matter irrelevant. I send my best wishes to Amosov and his family. I also wish them well. I pray that everything will come to an end so no one is left behind .”
With Amosov out of action for the foreseeable future, Page faces Storley — who suffered a lone loss to Amosov via split decision at Bellator 252 in November 2020. Page thinks Storley matches better than Amosov because it is more familiar to him.
When it comes to the striking, Page doesn’t even understand why that would even be a question that comes up.
“He is far from me,” Page said. “[His striking] is not even something I’m considering heading into this fight.
