Michael "Venom" Page said that his relationship with UFC president Dana White was "nonexistent."
Page joined the UFC in 2023 with his stock at an all-time high after serving as the face of Bellator courtesy of a series of exciting stoppages with his unique freestyle striking style.
But he couldn't replicate that in the UFC with a run of impressive, albeit uninspiring, decision wins in the promotion, along with a solitary defeat to Ian Machado-Garry, leading to the conclusion of his six-fight contract.
White confirmed in September that the UFC would not pursue another deal, and Page announced this week that his next venture is with KSI's Misfits boxing in a "multi-fight, multi-year agreement." And reflecting on his time in the promotion, Page said he felt that White was "never really a fan of me from the beginning."
"Literally nonexistent [relationship with White]," Page told ESPN. "I think we've had a couple of very brief conversations, very, very brief. [Chief business officer Hunter Campbell] was the person that I spoke with quite regularly. I was thankful for him. ... It was him that signed me. It was more Hunter that was the person that was like, 'Look, I want you in the UFC.'
"So I feel like Dana White's never really been a fan of me from the beginning, or I think it came from somebody else. And because I also didn't deliver it in the way he wanted me to deliver, I get he didn't care. You can kind of tell from the announcement, he didn't really make anything of it. He just announced me on the card as if I've always been a fighter there and people were kind of like, 'Wait, what?'
"So I feel like potentially, just based on how he behaves, I'm speculating here, that potentially he wasn't necessarily a fan of mine. And then on top of that, I didn't give him what he wanted as well. So yeah, there was no real relationship with Dana."
UFC didn't respond to ESPN's request for comment.
Page's UFC career wrapped up with a decision win over Nursulton Ruziboev amid boos from a partisan crowd in Paris last month.
Misfits wasn't the only promotion Page spoke to when looking at steps after the UFC with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions among those interested in the Brit. Page said that a move to MVP, who has recently acquired MMA promotion PFL, was considered, but the timing wasn't right.
"Obviously that [MVP] was probably one of the things at the top of the list. But they just weren't in the right place right now," he said. "It wasn't the right timing more than anything. It wasn't just a financial thing, but it wasn't the right timing for them."