MMA Fighter Tosses Poké Ball At Unconscious Opponent [Video]
Fox Sports reports MMA fighter Michael ‘Venom’ Page celebrated his knockout victory by putting on a Pokémon hat and rolling a plastic Poké ball at his unconscious opponent Saturday night.
At the end of the second round in a competitive welterweight bout at Bellator 158, Page (11-0) caught his opponent Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (21-18) with a crushing flying knee which planted his face on the canvass. In what was surely one of the most spectacular in-ring celebrations in MMA history, Page then immediately donned a cap with the Pokémon logo on it, and rolled a plastic ball shaped like the Poké balls used in the popular Japanimation franchise at his still-unconscious opponent. Watch it below.
Must See MVP TV tonight on @spike 9/8c#Bellator158 #PokemonGo @MichaelPage247https://t.co/VI5PYAgrhT
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) July 16, 2016
Santos had had considerable success against the much-hyped “MVP” in the first round, closing the distance and hauling Page to the mat to take the feared striker out of his comfort zone and test his largely-untested ground game. Cyborg, who is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, was able to maintain dominant positioning throughout much of the grappling exchange, though Page did surprise him early on with a solid kneebar attempt. However, Page was able to successfully nullify the Brazilian’s ground attacks and stayed safe until the first bell.
Santos had no such luck in the second round, however, getting nowhere near a successful takedown throughout the entirety of the second round. Venom maintained the unorthodox striking style he’s become known for, but exhibited little of the clowning antics we’ve come to expect from him in his stand-up displays, a show of respect for the skill and power of the seasoned muay thai veteran he was facing.
Page hurt Santos with a switch kick to the liver with a minute and a half to go in the round, and it was all over from there. Venom lived up to his name, knowing Santos had been injured by the blow, and waited patiently for a hole to appear in his opponent’s defense. A desperate level change from Santos was all the opening Venom needed, and closed the deal with a flying knee, the second one he’d attempted in the fight.
https://twitter.com/Spamfish/status/754428207873613825
In the Pokémon franchise, which is enjoying a massive resurgence in popularity thanks to the unprecedented success of the new Pokémon GO game, players catch Pokémon by trapping them in Poké balls, which they toss at the creatures in much the same way Page did at his opponent. Hardcore Pokémon fans on Kotaku were quick to point out that Pokémon trainers don’t generally knee their “pocket monsters” in the skull first, however.
The surging Page has enjoyed a tremendous amount of attention and enthusiasm behind his fledgling MMA career, largely due to his exciting, unorthodox striking style and consistent highlight-reel knockouts, and also due to his impressive kickboxing pedigree and martial arts world championships. His father, Master Curtis Page Sr., was a three-time world kickboxing champion, and most of his family members are active in martial arts in and around Great Britain. Page made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2012.
Santos was surely Page’s stiffest career challenge yet, and the match was eagerly anticipated by fans due to Cyborg’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu prowess, knockout power and extensive muay thai experience. Venom answered a lot of questions about where his career may be headed with Saturday’s performance.
Pokémon Go, the latest Pokémon game by Nintendo, has taken the world by storm. The new “augmented reality” technology means that players need to go out into the world to find and catch Pokémon, with unusual results. The Independent has reported two Pokémon Go accidents. One was a man crashed his car into a tree in New York, NY, on Friday, later admitting to police he had been distracted by the game, and the other was on Thursday when two men in San Diego, CA, fell off a cliff after they climbed over a fence in an attempt to catch the animated characters. A young woman found a dead boy in a river while playing the game. It’s not all bad. Science Alert says that people have been reporting the game has alleviated their depression due to its social and physical nature.
[Image via Shutterstock]
