Bellator 292: Britons Michael 'MVP' Page and Linton Vassell earn stunning knockouts

Britons Michael 'Venom' Page and Linton Vassell both secured dominant first-round knockout wins at Bellator 292 in San Jose, California.

Page, 35, stopped Goiti Yamauchi with a remarkable leg kick after just 26 seconds of their welterweight fight.

Vassell, 39, finished fellow heavyweight Valentin Moldavksy on the ground after dropping the Russian with a right hook.

The victories put both Page and Vassell in strong contention for title shots.

Page is ranked second in the Bellator welterweight rankings with only champion Yaroslav Amosov and Logan Storley above him, while Vassell is likely to leapfrog Moldavsky into second in the heavyweight listings, behind title holder Ryan Bader.

• Watch Bellator 292 main card in full on BBC iPlayer

• Watch Bellator 292 prelims in full on BBC iPlayer

'MVP' returns to winning ways in style

London's Page was looking to bounce back from defeat to American Storley for the interim welterweight title last May.

Following the loss, Page wanted a swift return to action but with no suitable opponents available at the time, decided to try bareknuckle boxing where he suffered defeat to Mike Perry in August.

Page regrouped after that fight and despite harbouring ambitions of script-writing and acting, reaffirmed his intention to win a world title before retirement.

Page's unique kickboxing style has shaped a successful career which yielded 20 wins from 22 bouts going into the fight with Yamauchi.

Japan-born Brazilian Yamauchi, 30, meanwhile, entered the contest with a Bellator-record nine submissions to his name and a three-fight win streak.

The fight was over after a single strike as Page delivered a kick to Yamauchi's right leg, causing him to drop to the canvas grimacing in pain with an injured knee.

The referee immediately waved off the contest, presenting victory to Page, while Yamauchi acknowledged defeat with a thumbs-up, congratulating Page as medics attended to his injury.

"First and foremost I want to wish Goiti a speedy recovery. It's hard to want to celebrate when he's there," said Page in the post-fight interview.

"I'm a fan of him and his work. It was a pleasure to share the cage with him.

"I work hard to be here. I'm dynamic, it looks like it comes easy but I bust every day in the gym to put a show on for everybody.

"You want to see me fight Amosov? Let's make it happen."

Vassell avenges Moldavsky defeat

Milton Keynes' Vassell fought Moldavsky in 2019, suffering a unanimous decision defeat.

Following that bout, Vassell went on a four-fight win streak to rise up the heavyweight rankings, setting up the rematch with Moldavsky.

The Russian, 31, last fought in August where a meeting with Steve Mowry ended in a no-contest following an accidental eye-poke.

The early stages of the first round saw Moldavsky utilising his grappling, taking Vassell down and looking for submissions, which were defended by the Briton.

After getting back to his feet, Vassell started to impose himself and following a left jab-right hook combination, Moldavsky dropped to one knee.

Vassell mounted his opponent and after landing a heavy elbow, the referee stopped the contest.

The wins sees Vassell become the number one contender for Bader's heavyweight belt as he looks to avenge another defeat and attempt to win his maiden MMA world title.

Vassell lost to Bader in 2017 at light-heavyweight.

"I had a dream I was gonna drop him at some point and finish with ground and pound and that's what happened," said Vassell.

"You know my ground and pound is brutal, I threw some elbows and the referee stopped it.

"Its Ryan Bader [next]. He knows it, I know it, it's going to happen soon. [My weight] is perfect, the magic number, it shows with my five wins and four stoppages."