Michael “Venom” Page fights out of London, England but you wouldn’t know it based on the flag graphic attached to his name … because there is none.
Since arriving in the UFC a year ago at UFC 299, Page has had a grey graphic with a globe in the corner as his flag instead of the Union Jack. At first fans were wondering whether it was some sort of production mistake, but Saudi Arabia marked Page’s fourth fight with the UFC … and fourth fight with the grey globe in place of a flag.
MVP beat Shara Magomedov and is now 3-1 with the promotion. Following that unanimous decision win, he was asked about the flagless situation.
“I feel like everyone’s always trying to find their group and all it does for me is build more separation,” Page explained at the UFC Saudi Arabia post-fight press conference. “We’re one race, the human race, and I live by that. I don’t care where you come from, what job you do, you could be a king, you could be a pauper, I will show you the same respect. I don’t care.”
“For me, constant labels attached to people, I just don’t like.”
It’s somewhat surprising that the UFC went along with Page’s request not to represent any flag. The promotion may believe in free speech, but they’ll veto a bad walkout song or questionable flag choice pretty quick.
In today’s world with rising tensions, it’s nice to see someone putting nationalism aside and reminding the world that we are all one. That used to be one of the big messages pushed in MMA, not this recent ‘Which country / race do you hate most’ garbage.
For complete UFC Saudi Arabia results, coverage and highlights click HERE.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
