In a display of humour and terror in equal measure, Blake Harrison put Michael Venom Page on trial, shining a dazzling light in his face in a bid to find out whether the explosive striker is finally making his eagerly anticipated move to the UFC.
Having made us laugh in The Inbetweeners and question our moral compasses in Way to Go, the 38-year-old is undeniably a talented actor. But it appears he has even more strings to his bow than we realised, as he produced a Sherlock Holmes-level performance in his admirable effort to get Page to crack.
Interrogating the mixed martial artist on The MMA Fan Show in a similar fashion to how Ant Middleton speaks to wannabe recruits on SAS Who Dares Wins, Harrison put it all on the line in his attempt to get his interviewee to spill the beans.
Taking it all in good fun, Page laughed along, pleading the fifth, leaving us all wondering what the explosive athlete’s next career move will be. But while he didn’t get the all-important answer he was looking for, Harrison thoroughly enjoyed playing the detective role.
Blake Harrison loved questioning Michael Venom Page
In an exclusive interview with Sporf, he laughed: “To be honest, we just tried to come up with a funny way of asking the same question he’s probably been asked for the last six months, which is, ‘Are you going to the UFC’? But the beautiful thing about it was that Michael was just so good-natured about it all, so friendly, and generous with his time. He took the joke really well.”
He continued: “When you’re dealing with a fighter, someone that could literally kill you with their bare hands, and you’re mucking about, shining lights in their eyes and slightly shouting at them, the wrong kind of person could take that the wrong way and get quite annoyed, and it could lead to a bit of an altercation or heated debate, but Michael was so nice. He was so chilled, and he just took it all in his stride. Then, he even started having jokes with it himself, talking about looking at his lawyer and pleading the fifth and all that kind of stuff.”
Blake Harrison had a great time getting to know Michael Venom Page
The MMA enthusiast added: “It was really good fun to do that with Michael. He was the perfect first guest for us to have in the new studio, not just because he was such a great personality, but also because people are very interested in what’s going on with the future of his career.
“He’s arguably the most exciting fighter the UK has ever produced in MMA. He has a highlight reel that could stand up to anyone around the globe. He’s a Londoner, he’s a UK boy, it was really nice to meet him and chat with him and realise he’s not just a flashy, brash kind of fighter with viral celebrations, he’s actually really down to Earth and a lovely bloke as well.”
The interview, which has gone down as one of the show’s most entertaining episodes to date, also served as the introduction of a new era.
Blake Harrison loves every second of working on the MMA Fan Show
During an appearance on one of Stu Whiffen’s podcasts many moons ago, Harrison lit a fire which is yet to go out. After stumbling onto the topic of MMA, the pair engaged in an engrossing conversation, which left them both hungry for more.
Realising they’d captured lightning in a bottle, they embarked on a crazy adventure, starting The MMA Fan Show. And it’s fair to say their podcast has been a roaring success.
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With the pair oozing the requisite chemistry necessary to keep listeners coming back for more, they’ve attracted incredible guests from Michael Bisping to Alexander Volkanovski.
But with a desire to push the barriers still burning bright, the pair have invested in a high-tech studio, which will allow them to take the show to the next level.
Blake Harrison is excited for the future of The MMA Fan Show
The host beamed: “What’s the goal? That’s a great question. Me and Stu are not very business savvy. What we should be doing is sitting down and having meetings where we’re like, what’s our five-year plan? What’s our goal for this and that? But the truth is that me and Stu are just like, ‘There’s a cracking card this weekend. Should we do an episode’?. Or it’s, ‘I’ve just been in touch with so and so from the UFC should we get them on? Yeah, go on then’.
“There’s not really much of a plan. We’re not journalists. We are just two fans who love the sport so passionately and really enjoy talking to fighters and talking about fights. Then, we’ll try and throw in a few interviews as well. So, regarding goals, we probably should have them, but we don’t. We’re just enjoying it, and that is the main thing for us at the moment. We want to enjoy ourselves and have fun doing this.”
Featured Image Credit: The MMA Show