Massive debut at UFC 297 seemingly leaked by accident
It seems UFC 297 is set to feature a blockbuster matchup between Michael 'Venom' Page and Kevin Holland. The first pay-per-view event of 2024 will go down at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, on January 20. The main event will feature a Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis middleweight title fight.
Earlier this week, UFC CEO Dana White spoke to the NELK Boys on the Full Send podcast in the 'War Room' at the promotion's headquarters, where White and his matchmakers normally discuss matchups. After the podcast went live online, keen-eyed fans noticed White's fight-making board, which interestingly had a Page vs. Holland contest penciled in.
After pictures of the board were leaked on social media, fans were unsurprisingly excited about the British MMA star making his promotional debut. While Michael Page has been linked to the promotion for a long time, nothing solid ever materialized. However, after Page split with Bellator MMA earlier this year, talks began heating up, and he was even spotted sitting ringside at UFC London in July.
In an interview with The MMA Fan Show, as reported by The Mirror, Michael Page spoke about connecting with White's promotion and potentially joining the promotion someday. He said:
"Honestly speaking, we’re not there yet. There’s still a few hurdles we need to jump over, but like I said, we’re flirting."
UFC 297: Kevin Holland on Michael 'Venom' Page fight rumors
Kevin Holland recently weighed in on the rumors about him welcoming Michael 'Venom' Page to the UFC and revealed if those speculations held any weight. As mentioned, Holland was recently seen matched up opposite Page in a leak showing Dana White's matchmaking board.
While fans were undoubtedly hyped to see the two entertaining fighters go up against each other, 'Trailblazer' dismissed any fight rumors and made it clear that he hadn't been offered any opponent yet. In a recent video uploaded to social media, Kevin Holland said:
"I haven't been offered any fights. That's why everybody keeps hitting me up like, 'Yo, Kevin, are you fighting?' I haven't been offered any fights, like, whatsoever. But, I'm too good for my own good. They already know what the f**k Imma say."
Holland is coming off a split-decision loss to Jack Della Maddalena at Noche UFC. The loss stopped his two-fight winning streak, which was preceded by two consecutive losses.