Leon Edwards Says Michael Page’s Move to UFC was ‘Too Late’

Leon Edwards doubts Michael Page will challenge for a title in the Ultimate Fighting Championship .

Page (22-3) made his Octagon debut at UFC 299 this past March, scoring a unanimous decision win over Kevin Holland . “MVP” most recently suffered a unanimous decision loss against Ian Garry in his sophomore promotional outing at UFC 303 last month.

Meanwhile, Edwards (22-3) will defend his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in Manchester, England, this weekend. Page recently said that a potential clash with fellow Brit Edwards in the future would be a massive fight in the United Kingdom.

While “Rocky” admits that a fight against Page would indeed be big in the UK, he doubts the former Bellator MMA star rises up the ranks to cross paths with him. Edwards believes Page could have made his way to title contention if he had beaten Garry and followed it up with a win over an elite contender like Shavkat Rakhmonov . However, Edwards believes the now 37-year-old was a little too late in making the switch from Bellator to the UFC. Judging by Page’s performance against Garry, Edwards doubts “MVP” can hold his own against other top contenders.

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

“Let’s say he did go out there, battered Ian, probably one more, beat Shavkat, then that would be massive in the UK,” Edwards said at UFC 304 media day. “But I feel like he’s left it too late to make the move over to the UFC. I wish he did it a little bit earlier. Does he make it to title contender? I don’t know. There’s a lot of top guys in the division. Ian is not a great wrestler; Ian outgrappled you. Ian ain’t strong, Ian outgrappled you. So, I don’t know.”

While Edwards agrees that a matchup against Page would be historic for the region, he believes it’ll only blow up only if “MVP” earns his shot. According to “Rocky,” plotting a massive matchup is all talk until one has made a legitimate case for themselves to deserve it.

“Let’s say he does go out there and beat these guys that meant to be next, then obviously it’ll be one of the biggest fights in UFC history. But you’ve to put the work in to get there. You can’t just say, ‘If I was fuc*ing fighting Mike Tyson.’ It doesn’t matter, you have to actually go out there, win the fights, get yourself in a position where you can fight for the title, then this fight will be massive.”