Bellator 281 Interim Championship Preview: Michael Page vs Logan Storley
As we’ve all heard by now, undefeated Bellator welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov is out of his first title defense opposing Michael Page, which was scheduled to go down next month at Bellator 281, May 13, 2022, at the SSE Arena in London, England.
Unfortunate, but the Ukrainian champion decided defending his country amidst the Russian invasion to be more important than defending his newly claimed world title. And honestly, who could blame him?
Nonetheless, no. 2 ranked Michael Page will now face no. 4 ranked Logan Storley for the interim Bellator welterweight championship. We also have another interim title bout going down later this month, as bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis was forced to withdraw from his second title defense due to an injury sustained in camp.
Storley, like Page, has only lost one time throughout his dominant career.
Coming in with a record of 13-1, Storley has won his last two-straight following a defeat to Amosov, just prior to Amosov winning the championship against Douglas Lima.
That was an incredibly close encounter with both men coming in undefeated, and honestly, it could’ve gone either way, but Storley lost the split decision. He’s the only man to ever really give Amosov a run for his money.
Then we have Mr. Page, who comes in with a record of 20-1, and he’s only ever lost to Douglas Lima himself, a defeat he just avenged in his most recent outing.
There we have it: one could easily be undefeated, and the other’s avenged the only defeat of his career.
But this is a serious contrast of styles here.
Storley is an incredible wrestler, a four-time NCAA Division I All-American, meaning he secured All-American status every year he was in college, and he placed in the top six all three years as well, placing sixth in 2012, fourth in 2013, third in 2014, and fourth again in 2015.
Storley also placed all four years in the Big Ten Conference championships, first placing second, then seventh, before finishing off in fourth place his last two years. He’s also a six-time state champion wrestler in high school and middle school, which is just astounding.
Page on the other hand is a ten-time world champion in kickboxing, including promotions like WAKO, WKA, and ISKA. He’s also 2-0 as a professional boxer, and his timing is as good as anyone’s in the entire sport.
Storley has been making some improvements in the striking department, though it’s clear he’ll want this fight on the mat. The same could be said for Page, who has a better ground game that most would expect, but he certainly wants this fight to play out on the feet, where he’s one of the most dangerous talents in the sport.
Who do you see coming out on top in this epic interim championship clash?
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