Page open to welcoming MacDonald to Bellator cage
If Michael Page is looking for a step up in competition, he could do a lot worse than one-time UFC title challenger Rory MacDonald.
Reports emerged on Wednesday of MacDonald officially making a move to Bellator MMA after a 13-fight stint with the UFC. The 27-year-old welterweight is widely considered to be in the top five at 170 pounds and Page sees him as a logical opponent whenever he makes his Bellator debut.
"I'd love that," Page told FloCombat's Chamatkar Sandhu. "That's a big fight."
Should they meet in the cage, it wouldn't be the first time that Page and MacDonald were scheduled to cross paths. The TriStar gym was planning to fly Page in to Montreal, Quebec to help prepare MacDonald for his last UFC bout against Stephen Thompson, but the arrangements fell through.
MacDonald went on to lose a unanimous decision to the mystifying Thompson.
"If they had me come to their gym I could have shown them," Page said. "Unless you can find somebody that can replicate that style and also knows how to wrestle, grapple it's going to be very difficult.
"You need people to replicate what will actually happen in the cage. You need a point fighter in MMA and there's very few of us so unless you're learning from myself or Thompson you're not necessarily going to get the full experience."
Page has established himself as one of the sport's most fearsome finishers, with all but one of his opponents failing to make it out of the second round. He's 11-0 in his professional career, though he's yet to face a fighter close to the caliber of MacDonald.
While it would be an intriguing way for MacDonald to start the next stage of his career, Page thinks the Canadian might be skittish after a poor showing in his last fight.
"I don't think he'd want to after his experience with Thompson," Page said. "I don't think he'd want another Thompson-style fighter for his first fight in Bellator. You saw his struggles in that fight and his frustrations. He's a big fighter with a big name and I'm happy to fight anybody so yeah it would be a good fight."