Michael Venom Page Still Has Title Aspirations at 170lbs

All right, MVP big fight coming up here in London.

Let's talk about Manchester United first.

Last time we talked about you, you're pretty bullish on your expectations for this season.

They're still right at the top there, I think maybe they've exceeded expectations a little bit.

What do you, what's your take on how they performed this year?

Yeah, it's, it's, I, I guess it's a shame that we had someone so stubborn.

Uh, in Amarin, now, the one thing I, I would give to Amarin is the, the purchases that he, you know, the players that he brought in, exceptional.

I think that was a great, uh, window, uh, for Manchester United of recent times.

Uh, with all the players like Mbwemo, Cesco, Cunha, all those kind of guys that have come in, they've been, uh, an amazing addition to the team.

But then he's very stubborn in his match with his, his, uh, system, with players that, you know, I think people are obviously like, these are the players that you should be playing.

And he, he just seemed like a stubborn person, he was more worried about not going along with what the fans were saying than actually looking at what is in front of him and playing those, the, the players correctly.

Example, Bruno playing out of position, example of, of Manu not playing.

Um, it's just loads of different things.

And for me, Carrick came in and just.

Did the obvious, he did, I don't think he, he's done anything spectacular.

He has in terms of the results, but he just played the obvious , uh, players in the right positions where they feel the most comfortable, and he's gotten the results from it.

He's also, you, you with the first few.

Games.

I'm not 100% on give him the , the position just yet.

I'm not 100%.

Only because he's done well against attacking teams and he's struggling a little bit, and I, and this is what I was actually worried about is the teams that we know we should be beating.

Uh, has he got a system when they're parking the bus, uh, and they're not really attacking and they're trying to play counterattack?

Has he got a system that can break that down?

And he has struggled a little bit there, but obviously the players are responding really, really well to him.

Uh, he's already exceeded his expectations, you look in terms of where we are position in the table right now.

We had a great win in the last game as well.

Um, and yeah, you know, not, not too long to go, hopefully he can maintain that.

Give.

Seasonal letter grade.

Uh, you, you still, you still have to see that, because it's, I'll give Carrick an A.

OK, there you go, fair enough, fair, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Let's, let's talk about British MMA.

It's been a little bit of a tough go.

Patty lost to Justin.

Tom's been out with the eye injury.

Laurone has to continue to fight for his title show.

Obviously MMA is so big over there.

Do you feel pressure heading into this event to kind of turn it around for the Brits and maybe, uh.

Get, get, get you guys back on track?

No, not really.

I, the, the thing is I fight for, for, for myself and my family, uh, first and foremost, uh, and the package deal is that I'm representing the UK and I get to put on a show for the UK, um, and these are deals that the cherries on top, but yeah, uh, there's, there's no, there's no additional pressure, uh, to do anything cause for me there's so much talent coming out of the UK it will always turn back around.

You know, these are just one or two.

Uh, an example is the, you know, the fighting nerds team, they did, they, when they came on the scene, they were just blowing up, they were doing exceptional.

And then there were like 3 or 4 fighters back to back losing to then coming back round again, and now they've got 3 or 4 fighters back to back winning.

So again, there's always ups and downs in everything.

Um, so there's, yeah, there's no stress.

I just know I need to go out there and do my job.

Talking about ups and downs in the sport, um, you've been somewhat vocal about it, being a little disappointed about finding, uh, fights hard to come by since you've come to the UFC.

You'd like to be more active.

And when I'm looking at it from afar, you're so entertaining in the cage, you're good on the mic, so I would assume the UFC wants to have you active.

Do you think it's a case of guys just not wanting to fight you?

Why are you not able to step in there more often?

I feel again I, I could be wrong, I feel like, yes, there are definitely certain people that don't necessarily wanna fight.

That's one aspect of things.

I think the other aspect of things is the UFC have bought into how.

Much of a devastating finisher I am, and I haven't been able to necessarily produce that yet.

I've put on some great shows, I feel, I feel like I've great performances against some really difficult, uh, fighters, but maybe they still want that little bit more from, from me, they had an expectation from me, um, and because I haven't delivered that quite yet, they are, um , again, not as excited to maybe push fighters to, to, you know, wanna fight, um.

That's again, I'm assuming here.

Uh but either way it is frustrating, uh but hopefully I'll put on a performance this weekend, er and then I can start demanding and pushing for, for more.

Absolutely.

Um, I talked to Anderson Silva yesterday, and he kind of reminds, he reminds me a little bit of you, like he was a showman in the cage, and I think that's something that's kind of lacking from this sport.

When you're in there and you are, you know, you're obviously an elite mixed martial artist, but you also enjoy putting on that show.

Do you think that sometimes your opponents or the fans view that as disrespectful?

Yeah, I've had it, I've had it, um, my whole career, so I'm accustomed.

To different people's uh opinions, I feel like that's also what made me me because it was, it wasn't like majority side was just against me or majority side was for me, it was very fifty-fifty, it was very, some people would look at it and be wow, how can somebody.

That's a, and it's so entertaining how he, how is he able to do that.

And then other people are like, that's so disrespectful.

Um, but it's part of what makes me such a talking point and a selling point.

Uh, so I'd, I'd never change it.

Do you feel like there's a little bit of that showmanship aspect missing from, uh, the UFC these days?

I feel like yes, but not necessarily just from the fighters.

I actually feel like the UFC themselves could market, especially, especially when they, you know, they partnered with, with WWE.

I was hoping that they were gonna, you know, add a little bit more uh.

Um, I don't know, like a bit more of a show to the actual occasion of UFC when you go to the, cause I, I went to a WWE show not too long ago, and it was just like, wow, the fireworks are on the inside, the flames are this like, and it doesn't take too much.

The regardless is the fight needs to happen, uh, and the fight's gonna be real.

You know, these two guys are going at it and they, you know, they're gonna put everything in to, to, to try and get a big KO or a big submission.

But the walkouts and everything just feels too same-ish.

I feel like when people, you wanna encourage people to be able to bring their families to an event because the event itself is just spectacular versus it just being about the, the cage, and I feel like, yeah, UFC could do a little bit more uh to, to kind of add a little bit of glitter to, to what they already have.

Definitely, we'll see, uh, as this Paramount deal unfolds, we'll see how the next year, uh, maybe we'll get, we'll see more of that.

You're stepping in there this weekend against Sam Patterson, very dangerous guy.

I'm sure all your focus is on him, but have you allowed yourself to go to a place to kind of think about the next couple of years?

Cause you are, you know, you are in the rankings, realistically, it's probably a couple more fights before you get in that title discussion , at least at 170.

Um, what, what have you thought about the next couple of years, where you're headed?

Yeah, you know what, it's uh, it's, it's difficult, you know, I think this sport, people don't understand the mental strain that goes through.

It's not just the physical uh physical aspect, and the mental aspect is super uh difficult.

You go through phases, like when I didn't get the fights that I was wanting, it's like, oh man, maybe, maybe they don't, I don't, you know, maybe it is my time that's done and you go back and forth for different things.

Obviously some fighters that don't, we don't necessarily as fighters talk about it enough, but yeah, I'm.

The obviously any time I get close to fights I'm locked in.

So I'm like, yeah, no, nah, I'm, I'm, I'm the shit, man, I'm ready, I'm fast, I'm I'm still strong, I'm still feeling myself.

So yeah, there are, I, I, I do see, as you say, a couple more fights.

If I get one big win here, one, another big win, maybe it could be next, based on how people are getting matched up nowadays.

It doesn't seem like there's a, a, a specific path you could be.

You could be anywhere and get picked to, to, to go to the top for whatever reason, so you just gotta be ready and keep, keep mentally strong.

Guy you have shared combat with Mike Perry, gonna be fighting Nate Diaz.

What did you think when you saw that fight was announced, and do you, can you give us a prediction?

Oh, that is a super exciting fight.

I just, I love both characters, they're both beasts, but um, great fight.

I have to say great fight.

Um, and I'm just, I'm, I'm a fan of absolutely both of them, but I like Mike Perry, man, he just, he just, he just, ah, I don't know, he just, he just made for war.

He's built different, right?

He's built, he's built different, man.

I feel like he is, he is some, obviously Diaz has the, the brand, and I feel like people are still, you know, kind of going on that, but when it comes to that nitty gritty, uh, like head down, just walk in and walk through anything, it's, it's definitely my, my, my boy Maya Perry.

Alright, MVP big fight this Saturday in London.

Good luck, always a pleasure talking to you.