Michael Page has one fight left on his UFC contract and wants to negotiate a new deal before taking it. The 37-year-old welterweight-middleweight told reporters he's hoping for extension talks now, not after his last contracted bout plays out.
Page signed with UFC in 2024 after 12 years at Bellator, where he headlined multiple cards and carried a 22-2 record into free agency. He's gone 2-1 since joining, beating Ian Machado Garry in June before dropping a decision to Shara Magomedov in October. The UFC books roughly 40 events per year; fighters with one bout remaining typically get booked within 90 days unless they're injured or negotiating.
The timing matters because Page loses leverage the moment he signs a bout agreement for that final fight. Once ink is on paper for a matchup, the promotion controls sequencing—he either wins and proves he's worth more, or loses and gets cut or lowballed. Asking for a new deal *before* booking keeps both sides at the table. It's the same play Geoff Neal ran in early 2024, turning his last-fight window into a three-fight extension at a reported 20% raise per bout.
Page's profile is odd for a contract-year fighter. He's 37, which is old for welterweight but not prohibitive—Kamaru Usman is 37, Stephen Thompson is 41. He's got the Bellator name recognition and a flashy karate-based style that plays well in highlight packages, which matters for promotional value even if he's not cracking the rankings. His two UFC wins came against credible opposition: Garry was undefeated at the time, and Kevin Holland had 26 pro fights when Page beat him on decision in March. The loss to Magomedov was competitive enough that it didn't erase his stock.
What Page doesn't have is clear path to title contention. The welterweight top-five is locked with Belal Muhammad, Leon Edwards, Shavkat Rakhmonov, Jack Della Maddalena, and Sean Brady. Middleweight is worse—Dricus du Plessis, Sean Strickland, Robert Whittaker. Page isn't breaking through there at his age. That makes him a gatekeeper, which is still valuable but caps his negotiating ceiling. Gatekeeper deals typically run four fights at $150k-to-show / $150k-to-win, sometimes with a small bump if the fighter has name value. Page's Bellator tenure probably puts him at the higher end of that range, but not by much.
The other angle is PFL, which absorbed Bellator's contracts and infrastructure in 2023 and has been selectively poaching UFC free agents. Francis Ngannou signed with PFL for a reported eight figures in 2023, though that included boxing crossover rights. Page won't command Ngannou money, but PFL has shown willingness to pay above-market for fighters who can headline internationally. Page fought in the UK for most of his Bellator run; PFL runs four to six international cards per year and needs names for those slots.
UFC matchmakers typically start filling cards 8 to 12 weeks out. The promotion has events booked through June 2025, with likely slots in March (likely Las Vegas or Miami), April (likely Europe), and May (likely Brazil or Abu Dhabi). If Page doesn't have a deal by late January, he's probably getting booked for March or April whether he likes it or not. After that, it's fight, win or lose, and see what the phone brings.
The takeaway
Page has 90 days of leverage before UFC books his last fight and PFL's interest becomes his only alternative.
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