- NAMES IN THE GAME: DAMACIO PAGE
by Mick Hammond - MMAWeekly.com
You'd be hard pressed to find a team of fighters that has come as far in a short period of time as the guys of Jackson's Submission Academy.
From Diego Sanchez, Rashad Evans, and Nathan Marquardt in the UFC to the soon-to-be-debuting-in-Pride Joey Villasenor, it's hard to find a major MMA promotion that doesn't have at least one of Greg Jackson's fighter on their roster.
While many of the veterans of the team are now finding success, that's just the tip of the iceberg because the team also includes many young fighters who are are poised to make breakthroughs. Among them is Damacio Page, who made his triumphant return to the TKO promotion in Canada earlier this month at TKO 25: Confrontation.
"It was real exciting," said Damacio of his win over Thierry Quenneville. "I'd just come off a big loss, so it felt real good to have a big win like that. It was a pretty exciting knockout. The guy actually got a nice little armbar [on me]. I was able to fight it off, and I gave him a little WWE old-school power bomb. It was nice."
With the win, Page raised his MMA record to 7-1. While many consider him to be a top young prospect who is on the fast track to big-time MMA, Damacio is less quick to toot his own horn.
"I really don't categorize myself right now," explained Page. "I really don't. I just fight. I let the fans and media do that. Some people feel I'm up there, but in my eyes, I'm not. There's still more to do."
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Damacio added, "When you stop evolving, that's when you stop winning. You have to keep evolving, like animals. If they stop evolving, they die off... so as a fighter if you stop evolving, you die off."
A key part of that evolution is Page's association with Jackson's Academy in New Mexico. It's a pairing that Damacio is proud to be a part of.
"It's great. I love it," said Page. "I know where I can fight when I see where those guys are at. It's very motivating. Some of the attention is falling over to me a little bit, with guys popping my name here and there every once in a while... and getting a random phone call asking for me is cool [laughs]."
With his most recent win in the TKO promotion putting him back on the winning track, Damacio is looking to avoid being content and will instead take some time off in the near future to continue to work on his game.
"What I mean by taking time off is just from fighting. I'm still training," explained Page. "I decided to get my grappling and striking games up more. It's up to my manager. It's not up to me when I fight [next] or not. I'll take any fight, but Greg's the man... he's the boss, it's his gym."
No matter when Page fights next, he is proud of who he is and where he comes from, and according to him, he's all the better for it.
"Just keep on supporting New Mexico fighters," Damacio said. "We're coming up, and we've got a strong squad out here in New Mexico. I want to thank my training partners. They're there for me 110 percent, and I'm there for them 110 percent. We make each other stronger for that. So, I want to thank all those guys for that, and especially Greg Jackson."
