Ian Garry and Michael Page traded some serious trash talk at Thursday's UFC 303 press conference in Las Vegas, but you wouldn't know it based on the interaction they had backstage after the fact.
Soon after the press conference concluded, the two welterweight opponents crossed paths behind the scenes, and shared a moment that ran counter to the intensity we saw from them on stage.
Garry introduced Page to his young son, and the pair were all smiles over the course of their brief conversation.
Ian Machado Garry's son met Michael "Venom" Page after the presser 🤝 #UFC303 pic.twitter.com/JHnyK1U81r
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 27, 2024
Things were different during the press conference.
Garry and Page were arguably the stars of the show, overshadowing even UFC 303 headliners Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka with their back-and-forth trash talk.
In fact, Garry even accused one of Page's coaches of trying to buy intel from one of his training partners in Brazil.
"Did you and your team offer thousands of dollars to get information in Chute Boxe from my boys?" the undefeated contender said. "Did you send someone a message and offer thousands for information, and you couldn't infiltrate the camp?"
"The Chute Boxe family is too tight."
Whether Garry and Page's apparent feud is sincere or not, there is no question their UFC 303 fight is huge for the welterweight division.
Ireland's Garry is undefeated at 14-0, and has earned the No. 7 spot in the division's rankings with recent wins over the likes of Geoff Neal, Neal Magny, and Daniel Rodriguez.
England's Page (22-2), meanwhile, is currently ranked No. 14 in the division. A former Bellator champ, he made his UFC debut earlier this year with an impressive decision victory over Kevin Holland.
Both men are already closing in on title shots, and the winner of their fight this Saturday in Las Vegas will become one of the top contenders in the division.
