Michael ‘Venom’ Page will still fight for championship gold in London at Bellator 281, but his main event assignment has now changed.

With reigning Bellator welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov currently back in his native Ukraine defending his country from the ongoing Russian invasion, he is unable to defend his title at the OVO Arena, Wembley on May 13.

It meant that the main event of Bellator 281 in London needed a re-jig, and as a result, Logan Storley has been called up to step into the main event spot and will face “MVP” for the interim welterweight title.

Page, who avenged his only career loss by defeating Douglas Lima in London at Bellator 267 last October, heads into the bout as the No. 1-ranked welterweight on the Bellator roster. The 20-1 Londoner has been one of Bellator’s top draws in Europe, and he’ll look to mark the occasion of his fifth fight for Bellator in the English capital by capturing the interim title.

He’ll take on Storley, whose only career loss came in a split-decision defeat to Amosov in a non-title fight in November 2020. Since that loss, he picked up a split-decision win over Dante Schiro, then followed up with a unanimous decision victory over Neiman Gracie at Bellator 274 in February.

Now Storley will get a shot at Bellator gold for the first time, and he’ll be looking to silence the London crowd with a dominant performance.

Commenting on the bout change, Bellator president Scott Coker said, “Like the rest of the world, we’ve been shocked by the tragic events in Ukraine and the thoughts of everyone at Bellator MMA are with Yaroslav and all the Ukrainian people during this time.

“We wish him and his family the best and look forward to seeing him return safely to happier times, both inside and out of the Bellator cage.”

Bellator 281: Amended Fight Card

MAIN CARD

  • Michael Page vs. Logan Storley – for interim welterweight title
  • Douglas Lima vs. Jason Jackson
  • Lyoto Machida vs. Fabian Edwards
  • Denise Kielholtz vs. Kana Watanabe
  • Paul Daley vs. Andrey Koreshkov

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Luke Trainer vs. Simon Biyong
  • Daniel Weichel vs. Robert Whiteford
  • Oliver Enkamp vs. Mark Lemminger
  • Kate Jackson vs. Elina Kallionidou
  • Alfie Davis vs. Tim Wilde
  • Andrew Fisher vs. Attila Korkmaz
  • Lee Chadwick vs. Maciej Rozanski
  • Arunas Andriuskevicus vs. David Trallero
  • Chiara Penco vs. Lanchana Green