Before finally deciding to jump ship to the UFC, Page spent most of his career in Bellator. During Page’s only championship opportunity, he lost a controversial decision to Logan Storley for the interim championship. Storley is known for implementing a wrestling-heavy style and held MVP down for most of the fight.

While Storley didn’t do much damage, the amount of control that Storley racked up ended up securing him a split-decision victory. Page started his career 14-0 before losing to Douglas Lima in the semifinals of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix.

MVP is 22-2 in his career with 13 knockouts and three submissions. Since Page is new to the UFC there are plenty of fighters to pair him up with. Many of the fighters in the UFC’s welterweight division have never had a chance to call out Page before.

With his strong personality and interesting highlight reel, ambitious fighters will want to take on the challenger. Here are some thoughts on other men in the top 15 who may try to accept the challenge.

Matchup with Wonderboy Would be Interesting

Stephen Thompson, 41, isn’t the fighter he used to be. At one point, “Wonderboy” had two close fights with Tyron Woodley for the welterweight championship in 2016 and 2017. While Wonderboy lost both contests, his karate fighting style and bright personality earned him a large following, according to MMA news sites.

Since the second loss to Woodley, however, things haven’t been great for the former title challenger. Thompson has lost three of his past four fights. Two of those losses came against talented grapplers who could limit Thompson’s ability on the feet with strong wrestling. 

Page shares some similarities to Thompson. Both men fight out of a karate stance and keep their hands lower than most MMA fighters. While this wouldn’t put Page on a path to the championship, it would likely generate fan interest.

Garry is Another Confident European Challenger

Ian Garry is undefeated and ranked No. 6 in the division. He badly wants to earn a shot to fight Leon Edwards for the championship. But the challenger pool is so deep that Garry needs a win or two more to separate himself from the crowd.

Matching up with MVP would make sense. Garry isn’t much of a grappler and is more comfortable striking on his feet. While the UFC has shown in its history that it isn’t afraid to do striker vs. grappler matchups, with Page’s age it may be better for the promotion to match him up with other top contenders who are strikers to get the most out of their investment.

Neil Magny is One of Division’s Best Gatekeepers

Don’t write off Neil Magny just yet. The obituaries on Magny’s career were being written before his bout with rising star Mike Malott at UFC 297 back in January, but a funny thing happened, according to MMA latest updates.

Magny, 36, wore out the young Canadian fighter. After taking a beating in the first two rounds, Magny’s superior cardio paid off in the third round. Magny was able to get Malott to the ground and end up in top position. Magny was able to rain down a number of unanswered strikes on the exhausted Malott.

With 15 seconds remaining in the fight, Magny was able to score a TKO win to improve to 29-11 on his career. Magny is still ranked in the top 15 of the division, even though he is 3-3 over his past six fights.

Magny has fought many of the top contenders in the division. He has an excellent cardio base and is comfortable on his feet. Magny would be willing to press forward and help draw out MVP’s strikes. It could be an entertaining fight between two strong veteran fighters.

Top of Division Stacked With Deserving Contenders

What make things difficult for MVP right now is how logjammed the welterweight division is at the top. Former champion Kamaru Usman is the No. 1 contender, but he is on the backside of his career and already lost twice to Edwards. Belal Muhammad, who is the No. 2 contender, can’t seem to command much respect.

Some people have trashed Muhammad’s fighting style as being boring, but his long winning streak means he is a worthy challenger. Shavkat Rakhmonov is an undefeated contender who has been setting the MMA world on fire.

Rakhmonov is on an 18-0 stretch to start his career, and he has finished all of his fights so far. MVP’s issue fitting in with this group is that Rakhmonov and Muhammad are both strong grapplers. No. 4 ranked welterweight Colby Covington is also a wrestling-heavy fighter, but he appeared to be on the downside of his career in his last fight.

By Dean McHugh.