Michael Page booked to return at Bellator Japan

Bellator welterweight star Michael Page has been booked to take on Shinsho Anzai at the promotion’s New Year’s Eve event in Japan.

Bellator officially announced this weekend that Page vs. Anzai will take place at Bellator & Rizin: Japan, set for Saturday, December 28 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The fight will take place at a catchweight of 173lbs.

Check out Bellator’s official fight announcement on its Twitter.

🚨FIGHT NEWS🚨

MVP returns to the cage to take on @Shinsho_Anzai in Japan LIVE & FREE on @ParamountNet, December 28th!#Bellator237

ベラトール日本大会にマイケル・ペイジが参戦！12月29日、さいたまスーパーアリーナでの安西信昌との試合を@DAZN_USAにてライブ配信。#ベラトール pic.twitter.com/P9WLDkyacL

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) December 7, 2019

“FIGHT NEWS MVP returns to the cage to take on @Shinsho_Anzai in Japan LIVE & FREE on @ParamountNet , December 28th! #Bellator237”

The fight is a quick turnaround for Page, who just finished Giovanni Melillo in November at Bellator London. This is actually Page’s fifth fight in 2019. He also knocked out Richard Kiely in September and defeated Paul Daley via decision in February and was knocked out by Douglas Lima in June.

Page (16-1) is one of Bellator’s biggest stars and one of its most talented competitors. However, the promotion has been criticized for giving him easy matchups instead of hardened opponents. This latest matchup against Anzai is a step up over the last few opponents Page had, but it’s still a fight he’s going to me widely favored to win. Page has won 13 of his 16 career victories via stoppage.

Anzai (11-3) will be making his Bellator debut here fresh off of a decision win over Yoichiro Sato in DEEP in September. Anzai previously fought in the UFC between 2014 and 2018, going 2-2 overall with wins over Luke Jumeau and Roger Zapata and losses to Jake Matthews and Alberto Mina. Seven of Anzai’s 11 career victories have come by stoppage.

Page vs. Anzai is the latest addition to Bellator’s year-end card which also features notable matchups including Fedor Emelianenko vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Michael Chandler vs. Sidney Outlaw.