Kicking off the main card of Bellator 292 was a huge welterweight contest with potential title implications. Former title challenger Michael “Venom” Page (21-2) was making his return to the Bellator cage as he took on grappling sensation Goiti Yamauchi (28-6).
Page took a brief detour after his last bout in MMA when he ventured over to BKFC to take on Mike Perry in August. He lost a decision in that Bare Knuckle bout and returned to MMA to take on Yamauchi. MVP entered the cage 6-1 in his last seven, but he was coming off a loss to Logan Storley.
The key factor in this matchup is where the fight took place. If they stayed on the feet, you expected MVP to just pick apart Yamauchi. Meanwhile, if Yamauchi got the fight to the ground, you expected domination from him and a potential submission win.
Well, it didn’t take long to get to a result. In the opening seconds, the two men were feeling each other out. Page unleashed a kick to leg of Yamauchi that landed right on his knee. When the kick landed, it ruptured the patella tendon of Yamauchi and he went down earning Page the TKO win at Bellator 292.
Is a title shot next after Bellator 292?
The finish for MVP was devastating and it was quick. In my opinion, you cannot deny the man of a title shot after the win he just had. Last May, MVP was supposed to face off against Yaroslav Amosov for the undisputed welterweight title.
However, after the conflict in Ukraine boiled over, Amosov stepped away to fight for his home country. Logan Storley stepped in and fought MVP for the interim title. MVP was stifled by the wrestling of Storley and lost a split decision.
Amosov returned a few weeks ago and completely dominated Logan Storley in the title unification bout. In my opinion, there’s no doubt as to what should be next. Bellator and Scott Coker should immediately move to make the fight that was supposed to happen last year. Yaroslav Amosov – Michael “Venom” Page for the welterweight title.