Michael Page reveals frustration with Carlos Prates ‘plan’ and reacts to Conor McGregor rumour

Interview: Page, who will fight Sam Patterson at UFC London, has been candid that his fellow Briton was not his desired opponent The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. SportUFCMichael Page reveals frustration with Carlos Prates ‘plan’ and reacts to Conor McGregor rumourInterview: Page, who will fight Sam Patterson at UFC London, has been candid that his fellow Briton was not his desired opponentAlex Pattle Combat Sports Editor Wednesday 25 February 2026 17:03 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverUFC Fight Night 270: Michael Page not thrilled by Sam Patterson fightYour support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. 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We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreMichael “Venom” Page has admitted that his frustrations with UFC matchmaking stem from plans involving Carlos Prates.In December, Page voiced his disappointment that he had asked the UFC for a fight, only to be told the promotion already had plans for his proposed opponent – despite the fact that the fighter in question had only just competed, while Page had been out of the cage for three months. Now, Page has revealed that Prates was the fighter he had cryptically spoken about, with “MVP” also expressing surprise that the Brazilian has been linked with Conor McGregor. Meanwhile, Page has been paired with the unranked Sam Patterson for UFC London in March.“I tweeted about it just before they fought, Leon [Edwards] vs Prates,” the Briton told The Independent. “I was like: ‘I would love to fight the winner of this fight in London.’ That was just me saying that beforehand. Obviously what happened happened [Prates knocked out Edwards].RecommendedRumoured Conor McGregor opponent Carlos Prates speaks out on UFC fightConor McGregor accepts ‘no-name’ opponent and hints at frustration over UFC returnMichael ‘Venom’ Page on strange UFC London opponent: ‘Feels like I’ve upset somebody’“The next day, I message like: ‘Yo, that would be a great fight, let’s make that happen.’ And [the UFC] were like: ‘Ah, we’ve kind of got plans for him already.’”Prates knocked out former welterweight champion Edwards in November, after Page had outpointed ex-middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier in August – with Page having flitted between middleweight and welterweight since his UFC debut in 2024.open image in galleryMichael Page ahead of his win over Jared Cannonier in August (Getty)“In that moment, it was kind of annoying to hear,” Page continued, “especially considering this man had stepped one leg out of the cage, and they already have the next step for him! I don’t take too much damage, so when I get out of a fight, if you have the next plan for me, that’s the position I want to be in. The next day, you can be talking: ‘The likelihood is this show, against one of these kinds of people.’”Prates is actually still without a fight, though rumours have circulated this week that the 32-year-old could face McGregor next, as the latter bids to end a five-year absence from the Octagon. However, Prates said he has had no contact from the UFC about such a contest.Still, when the idea was put to Page, he asked The Independent with a laugh: “What?? That’s what I’m trying to say. It’s weird that you had plans for him, and now there’s confusion in the plans. I don’t know what’s happening, it’s a weird one.open image in galleryCarlos Prates knocked out former champ Leon Edwards in November (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)“I felt like [I was going to fight him], just because either he mentioned me or someone mentioned me in one of his interviews, and he said he’d love that fight as well. Then we actually met up afterwards and he was like: ‘Man, yeah, maybe we can fight in the future.’ “It was cool, man, so I was thinking, ‘He sounds interested, I’m happy to go,’ there was already talks of it, so that would be a good fight next. But we’ll see.”In any case, Page, 38, will face fellow Briton Patterson, 29, at UFC London on 21 March. The news came as a surprise, with Page having established himself as a contender at both 185lb and 170lb, whereas Patterson is unranked at the latter weight, where he will face MVP.open image in galleryEnglis