Former Bellator MMA star Michael “Venom” Page is gearing up for his UFC debut against Kevin Holland at UFC 299…
And he has taken a strong stance against excessive trash talk.

Page, known for his exciting style inside the cage, is equally vocal about maintaining respect outside of it.
Here’s what he had to say about going into the fight against Holland, as he shared in a conversation with Ariel Helwani:

The trash talking is going to be good, but respectful. What I’ve been seeing so far in combat sports, I hate.

I don’t like people talking about people’s fathers, people’s wives, people’s girlfriends, people’s kids, all of that stuff.
We need to go back to martial arts.

The MMA community recently witnessed several instances where trash talk crossed the line.
Colby Covington’s remarks about Leon Edwards’ late father and the jibes at Sean Strickland’s troubled childhood by Sean O’Malley and Dricus Du Plessis are cases in point.

These incidents, according to Page, reflect a loss of integrity among fighters:

Everyone seems to have lost themselves a little bit. I have zero respect for people that feel the need to go that way.
We’re skillful athletes, and that should be enough.

I’m all for the banter, I’m all for the jokes and keeping it kind of friendly, and that should be enough to build a fight.
We can keep the intensity, but it should stay between me and the person that’s fighting, and that’s it.

He also reflected on trash talk in the UFC specifically:

When it gets that kind of personal, real stuff can actually happen, and it falls back on the UFC.
Hopefully, they’ve seen that it’s getting a bit too much, and they tighten it up.

But on a positive note, I think me and Holland are going to be the way it should be.