Michael Page got his revenge, even if it may not have been as definitive as he’d hoped.
Two years after suffering the only loss of his MMA career at the hands of Douglas Lima, Page set off a celebration inside the SSE Arena in London, England by defeating the former Bellator welterweight champion via a razor-thin split decision in the back-and-forth main event of Bellator 267. Judges Eric Colon and Doug Crosby scored the bout 29-28 for Page, both giving the Englishman the first two rounds, while judge Ben Cartlidge was the lone dissenter with a 29-28 score for Lima and a Round 1 and Round 3 edge for the Brazilian.
“I wanted the finish,” Page said. “My man is a tough man. I understand why he’s been a champion three times. Even when I hit him with those big shots, he just kept coming.”
The decision was a controversial one and ultimately came down to how you scored the first round. Page (20-1) twice made Lima (32-10) stumble to the floor with charging counters inside the opening minutes, although only one exchange landed clean and both could’ve been dismissed as Lima losing his balance. Lima responded by taking Page down for the second half of the opening round and controlling the action from top position.
The second frame was contested solely on the feet with Page scoring the biggest moment of the round when he briefly dropped Lima with a lunging right hand that caught the former Bellator king behind the ear. But Lima once again responded by taking Page down in the third round and riding out the reminder of the fight from top position.
The final striking stats had Lima ahead by a 25-17 clip but with Page having the most significant exchanges, while Lima won the takedown battle 2-0.
Following his sixth straight win since his original loss to Lima, Page took to the mic to call out undefeated Bellator welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov.
“Now I want that bling,” Page said. “I’ve come over, I’ve got my redemption — now I want that bling. The one and only ‘MVP’ is back.”
