Kamaru Usman expected more from Michael Page at UFC 299.
Page (22-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) taunted, blitzed and frustrated Kevin Holland (25-11 MMA, 12-8 UFC) en route to a unanimous decision win Saturday at Kaseya Center in Miami, making good on his UFC debut.
Former welterweight champion Usman liked the theatrics behind MVP’s walkout but thought he could have done more against Holland.
“It was a good showing,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “Let’s just start with the entrance: The entrance was great. I like MVP. I like the fact that he had the confidence to come in and do that, entrance was great.
“I liked that from MVP. Yeah, continue to build yourself in the best way. Now, based on that entrance, I would have liked to see him fight a little bit more because he’s definitely capable of something greater than what he put out.”
Usman compared Page’s entrance to Israel Adesanya’s, who also used WWE legend The Undertaker’s theme song for his walkout at UFC 276.
“This was a nice interesting twist to it,” Usman said. “Whoever remixed this song, whichever DJ, it was nice because it was The Undertaker theme at the beginning and then it turned into ‘Amapiano,’ and you can just tell MVP can dance, MVP can do his thing. … I’m glad he had a great time, but I think he’s definitely capable of more.
“And I think he should have showed a little bit more in there because I do think he had Kevin Holland in some compromising positions, to where he could have potentially capitalized and put that fight away. But, he showed how dangerous he is, how hard he is to fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.
