UFC Paris: Michael ‘Venom’ Page to face Nursulton Ruziboev on 5 September

Britain’s Michael ‘Venom’ Page will face Uzbekistan’s Nursulton Ruziboev in a middleweight bout at UFC Paris on 5 September.

The 39-year-old, nicknamed MVP, last fought in March, when he earned an uninspiring decision win over fellow Englishman Sam Patterson.

Page signed with the UFC in 2023 after nine years with Bellator, where he built a reputation as one of the promotion’s most dangerous and exciting fighters.

He has won four of his five fights in the UFC, but voiced his frustration before the bout with Patterson about the promotion not booking him against a bigger name.

Although 32-year-old Ruziboev is on a three-fight winning streak and is ranked 15th in the UFC’s middleweight division, like Patterson he is not a well-known personality within the sport.

The bout with Ruziboev marks Page’s return to middleweight after fighting Patterson at welterweight, with the Londoner saying he will continue to compete in both divisions in a bid to maximise his pool of opponents.

Page has previously called for an all-British bout with former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards.

Elsewhere on the card at Paris’ Accor Arena, Lithuanian-British light-heavyweight Modestas Bukauskas takes on France’s Oumar Sy.

British featherweight Kurtis Campbell also faces American Trevor Peek.

The event’s headline fight is yet to be announced by the UFC.