Michael 'Venom' Page signs multi-fight deal with KSI's Misfits Boxing after UFC exit

Michael "Venom" Page has signed a multi-fight, multi-year deal with Misfits Boxing. He and KSI announced it in the ring on Saturday, October 10, at the Copper Box Arena in London, ESPN reported. The reveal came during Misfits 30, headlined by Joey Essex vs. Dapper Laughs, according to SB Nation. Money terms were not disclosed.

"I feel free," Page said in the ring, according to Uncrowned. "The shackles are off." In a statement released through ESPN, he said MF Sports "is the right fit for me" and that he is "coming to show the boxing world what I can do."

KSI said "everyone wanted him," according to SI. He is back at Misfits as CEO and said on the night that he has retired from boxing.

What the deal covers

Ariel Helwani reported an exclusive combat-sports deal that still lets Page enter grappling and wrestling events elsewhere, as cited by MMASucka. Nobody has said outright whether he could also fight MMA under Misfits.

Page is 2-0 as a pro boxer, per Wikipedia). He stopped Jonathan Castaño in the third round in 2017 and knocked out Michal Ciach in the second in 2018. He also lost a majority decision to Mike Perry at BKFC 27 in London in August 2022.

Misfits was not the only interested party. Jake Paul posted in September that it was "time to bring MVP to MVP," AgentMMA reported, but no deal followed.

How the UFC run ended

Page joined the UFC in December 2023 after going 17-2 in Bellator. He went 5-1 there, and every fight went to the judges. His only loss was a decision to Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303 in June 2024. He then beat Shara Magomedov, Jared Cannonier, Sam Patterson and Nursulton Ruziboev, and is 26-3 in MMA overall.

The Ruziboev win, a unanimous decision at UFC Paris on September 5, was the last fight on his contract. It was also booed: Page landed 12 significant strikes to Ruziboev's 8 over 15 minutes, per LowKickMMA. Afterwards he said, "I want to challenge for a belt."

Days later, Dana White confirmed at a Contender Series press conference that the UFC would not keep him, according to Cageside Press:

"That was his last fight on his contract. I don't think we're signing him, no."

White added that Page was taken out of the rankings because he was no longer on the roster. Page said on The Ariel Helwani Show that nobody from the UFC spoke to him first, and called the handling "quite disrespectful," according to EssentiallySports. "I was winning my fights, which says to me, 'You get to stay,'" he said.

How he did as a bet

Bettors were slow on him early in his UFC run. According to our fighter page, he closed as the underdog in each of his first three fights and won two, including the +170 upset of Magomedov. The market adjusted after that: he closed between −189 and −213 in his last three and won all of them.

One unit on Page at the closing line in all six UFC fights would have made a 3.33-unit profit, about 55% of the stake per fight. Most of that came from the first three fights, and six fights is a small sample. It is his historical record, not a guide to how he'll do in a boxing ring.

What comes next

ESPN reports he is expected to make his boxing debut "in the coming months." We think the opponent will matter more than the signing. A winning pro at welterweight or light middleweight would show whether his striking carries over to boxing at 39. A crossover name from the influencer side of the Misfits roster would show much less.

His two pro boxing wins came eight and nine years ago. As of Sunday, Misfits has not named an opponent, a date or a venue.