Issue 154

May 2017

“It sounded like a baseball being hit out of the park. It Cyborg's forehead. Absolutely the hardest knee (I’ve seen).” - Referee John McCarthy.

“I heard a crack but in all honesty, I thought I was his nose. He was still conscious and he was still kicking his legs.” - Michael Page

The most destructive strike of 2016 against Cyborg Santos made Michael Page MMA’s knockout MVP at Bellator 158.

2016 included some incredible finishes, but 2016’s was the first flying knee – and first Bellator fighter – to be crowned thanks to Michael ‘Venom’ Page’s head-cracking KO of Evangelista Santos.

91% Page’s finish rate in his fist 11 fights – 10 stoppages whilst 10 seconds is Page’s quickest KO was in his Bellator debut. Page is an impressive fighter having accumulated a total 44:41 fight time of his first 11 pro fights.

‘Cyborg’ was picked to offer the flashy British striker a test. The 38-fight veteran was dangerous and experienced – having fought all over the world for 20 years and competed for the Strikeforce title a year before Page even made his MMA debut.

But the then 10-0 Londoner more than lived up to the hype, dazzling the Brazilian with his blurring array of offense, honed by years of precision point-fighting.

Santos had already narrowly avoided two flying knees laced with evil intentions, but swallowed an array of gut-churning body kicks, head-snapping lead right hands and spinning elbows throughout the first nine minutes and change.

With just 30 seconds of the second round to run, Page finally landed the strike he’d been searching for. 4:31 was the time in round two when the fight was stopped.

‘MVP’s right knee landed as Cyborg lunged forward with a right hand and smashed his opponent’s skull. Santos fell to the floor, clutching his head in agony.

To cap it all, in the summer of Pokémon Go, Page celebrated with his homage to the gaming phenomenon to ensure his flying knee was seen by hard-core MMA fans and fans of catching ‘em all around the world.