Michael Page skulle bli Fernando Gonzalez motståndare på Bellator 151 men drog sig ur på grund av en skada. Men Gonzalez tror inte på att det var anledningen, enligt en intervju med Sherdog.com.
Natten till lördag går Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell av stapeln i Thackerville, Oklahoma, USA. Fernando Gonzalez (24-13) skulle från början möta Michael Page (9-0) men Page drog sig ur på grund av en skada. Istället ska han möta Gilbert Smith (12-4). Gonzalez tror inte på den officiella förklaringen utan tror helt enkelt att det var hans nerver som gjorde att han drog sig ur.
“They ended up saying it’s an undisclosed injury or whatever. When I actually got the call it was about seven weeks from the fight, so I don’t know. For me it just seemed kind of sketchy. I honestly believe that nerves kind of got to him, and that’s why he backed out of the fight.”
Han tror inte att Page skulle vara ett enkelt motstånd.
”I knew he was gonna be a tough test. He’s got range. But he commits. He likes to come forward and he’ll put himself in danger against guys that he was pretty much easily matched up against where he knew he was gonna get that win. For him to change his game to fight somebody that’s gonna give him a fight was eventually what led to him backing out of the fight. I really don’t believe he was injured; I just think he was protecting his record.”
Page har tidigare dragit sig ur matcher där han skulle ha fått mycket hårt motstånd vilket gör att Gonzalez misstänker starkt att Page dragit sig ur för att hålla sitt fight record perfekt.
“Anytime he’s been lined up to fight somebody tough he’s backed out: Brennan Ward (13-3), and then he backed out against Curtis Millender (8-3) and myself. If he hadn’t backed out of those other two, then I wouldn’t be saying that right now, but it just shows that anytime he’s about to face somebody tough, the nerves come into play. He’s still young in the sport, so I think it really does mess with him right now. Especially with all the hype that’s behind him.”
