Michael 'Venom' Page out to make MMA's French debut one to remember

It will be England v Scotland in France when mixed martial arts makes its live debut on the BBC on Saturday.

Michael 'Venom' Page, is taking on undefeated Scot Ross 'The Hitman' Houston in a highly anticipated welterweight bout in Paris.

It will be the first major event in France following the legalisation of MMA in the country, a ruling that came into effect at the start of January.

"I'm definitely the man to call if you want to make some noise," said Page, who is also known as 'MVP'.

American-based promotions organisation Bellator will stage the 10-fight event, which will be shown live from 16:30 BST on the BBC iPlayer.

So what can viewers expect when Page takes on Houston?

'I was born to entertain'

Showman Page impressed London on Bellator's first visit to the city in 2016 with a 'Knockout of the Year' against Brazilian veteran Evangelista Santos.

But despite his flair for the sensational, he is putting no pressure on himself to dispatch Houston in a similar fashion.

"I try not to put too much pressure on myself to make it happen; you can definitely force it too much. It's just who I am - I was born to entertain," he told BBC Sport.

When the Londoner began making international headlines in 2015, Inverness-born Houston was working on an oil rig.

The undefeated Scot eventually quit his job to pursue fighting professionally. After claiming the Cage Warriors welterweight title in 2018, he signed for Bellator earlier this year.

"I'm sitting here in my hotel room on the top floor of a plush hotel overlooking Paris. It's amazing to think I've come this far," Houston said.

One of Europe's top prospects, Houston knows a win over Page will have immediate title ramifications at 170lb.

"A win over Page puts me on course for my second world title and puts me right at the top of the division," Houston said. "He's a huge name; he's known all around the world, so I think it's a great way to introduce myself."

'It took a lot of lobbying to get to this point'

Michael 'Venom' Page v Ross 'The Hitman' Houston

Bellator's Paris event will be limited to 1,000 spectators on Saturday because of Covid-19 safety protocols.

Although the Accor Arena will not boast a capacity crowd, Guillaume Duseaux - host of French podcast La Sueur - believes the arrival of Bellator underlines the diligent work of many who secured MMA's legalisation in France, overturning a national ban on the sport in 2016.

"It took a lot of lobbying from Bellator, the UFC and a lot of other organisations to get to this point," Duseaux said.

"The minister of sport, Roxana Maracineanu, was willing to develop MMA and that was very important. The success of MMA Factory, with fighters such as Francis Ngannou, Cyril Gane, and coach Fernand Lopez, has really helped the sport.

"The rise of Conor McGregor was also important for educating French people about MMA; he's a huge star over here. When he fights, all the mainstream publications and broadcasters discuss it."

Since 2019, Bellator has made a concentrated effort to snap up some of the most promising free agents in Europe and launched its European Series, which has seen nine events hosted across several countries including the UK, Ireland and Italy.

And while MMA is a mainstream sport in the United States, thanks to UFC's television deal with ESPN, cracking Europe has proved trickier.

However, Dave Green, head of Bellator Europe, told BBC Sport that the deal to show the event on iPlayer was "absolutely massive".

"We are so excited about this deal. We've watched the sport grow over the years and it's had its fair share of hurdles, particularly in this part of the world.

"Getting on terrestrial TV was a big deal, but getting it on the BBC's iPlayer is truly historic."

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