Catchweight
Michael Page (16-1) vs. Shinsho Anzai (11-3)Bellator will ship one of its biggest stars to Japan for this year-end extravaganza. Page made a slow climb on the welterweight ladder while delivering some of the most sensational knockouts in the sport’s history. He entered the Bellator welterweight grand prix in February with a perfect 13-0 record and took on countryman Paul Daley in the opening round of the tournament, earning a unanimous decision over “Semtex” despite struggling to control the grappling exchanges. In the semifinals, Page experienced his first setback of his career in a knockout loss to Douglas Lima. While the Brit’s detractors enjoyed seeing his downfall, they tend to ignore the fact that he was performing quite well against Lima and even stunned the Brazilian before being knocked out. Page passed his next two tests with ease. The 32-year-old is a long striker with incredible athleticism and elusiveness. He likes to stand in an unorthodox stance, with his core facing away from his opponent. He darts in and out of range with superb footwork and picks apart adversaries with astonishing timing, accuracy and power. “Venom” loves to dazzle fans with highlight-reel kicks and flying knees. The London Shootfighters export is extremely confident in his skills and is not opposed to taunting opponents during fights.
Anzai has competed in King of the Cage, Pancrase, Deep and the UFC, where he went 2-2 during his short stay. The 34-year-old is an average striker who marches down opponents while throwing powerful hooks and trying to get close to the cage, where he can best utilize his wrestling. The gritty veteran is a solid dirty boxer in the clinch and has good speed on his distance entries, though he does make the mistake of telegraphing his takedown attempts by failing to set them up with strikes and just diving in on his opponent’s legs. If “The Animal” does get the fight to the ground, he spends more time pinning his opponent’s shoulders to the canvas instead of landing strikes or seeking a submission. The Japanese fighter does not have a single submission win in his career. If taken down, he has difficulty getting off the bottom and will easily give up his back, as he did in a June 2018 submission loss to Jake Mathews. Anzai’s biggest weapon may be his seemingly endless gas tank.
Anzai represents a step up in competition from Page’s two previous opponents: Gianni Melillo and Richard Kiely. The Japanese fighter’s primary strength—wrestling—happens to be Page’s biggest weakness. He needs to find a way to get inside and take down Page if he wants to be successful. However, with the way Anzai often ducks his head on attempted takedowns, he seems tailor-made for one of Page’s patented flying knees. MVP by first-round knockout is the pick.