Page (25-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) outpointed Sam Patterson (14-3-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in a unanimous decision win Saturday at The O2 in London, which UFC CEO Dana White called a "bad fight."
A fan favorite, "MVP" isn't used to being showered with boos, but fighting a former training partner in Patterson led to a lackluster affair.
"For the most part, he was near enough running," Page said of Patterson in his post-fight interview with the UFC. "In general, I think I could get someone relatively amateur and if they're moving around, it's still going to be difficult for you to lock in on them if they're not engaging. So when you've got someone even more talented …
"And again, I've always raved about him throughout this whole time. I think he's super talented. He's familiar with me, so he knows where I'm dangerous, and I felt like that’s why he adopted this. I just didn't understand where he was going to get the win from, so I just felt like he was happy to get by. … It's annoying. It's frustrating. I might have to just completely change my style."
"I feel like if I look and appear a bit more familiar to my opponents, they might engage more," Page said. "My style is already off-putting just from bouncing. That's before I do spins, and do my arms down. But if I have a bit more of a traditional frame, it might look familiar for them to be like, 'I've seen this before, maybe I can land this,' and maybe they can open up a little bit more. That's what I'm thinking. But again, obviously, I go back to my coaches, they'll probably tell me to shut up and keep going."