Michael ‘Venom’ Page has once again expressed his frustration at his struggle to get big fights in the UFC after being paired up against Nursulton Ruziboev for the final bout on his current contract.

“In all honesty, it’s been frustrating,” the 39-year-old Page said on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show.’ “I feel like it’s crazy that I’ve reached the pinnacle of MMA and trying to get a name in the Top 10 seems very, very difficult… It’s excuse after excuse. Then we send another slate of names, and the same thing happens.“

Page did fight Shara Magomedov and Jared Cannonier last year, but surprisingly his first fight of 2026 was against the unranked Sam Patterson, and now he’ll fight another opponent outwith the top 15 when he goes up against Ruziboev in Paris on September 5th.

“Nursulton is a tough opponent, but I was seeking bigger names, and I have been for the last three fights. Nobody seems to want to step in there… I’m genuinely asking for everybody. It just feels crazy that I’m competing in the toughest combat sport in the world, surrounded by the toughest guys, and it’s this hard to get those fights.”

However, despite his frustrations with the UFC match-making, ‘Venom’ still hopes that he can still land an extension to his current deal after the fight with Ruziboev.

“I don’t want it to be (my final UFC fight)… I would like to get an extension but get the UFC on side with getting big names… I want a rough idea of how I would get to that belt.”