Fighter pay has been a big talking point in the MMA world with many fighters wanting to get paid what they're worth. Bellator welterweight, Michael ‘Venom' Page has been vocal recently about wanting to be paid in main events that include extra rounds.

Bellator MMA used to have three-round main events and recently switched it to five. Michael Page understands why but thinks fighters should be paid more since they will be working longer.

“I don’t like how it was done, per se, simply because it felt like that fight was what pushed it onto that,” Page said Monday on The MMA Hour. “And I know there’s this big thing about fighter’s pay, but you’re asking me to do extra rounds, and without talking about our purses going up for doing so. So it’s 10 extra minutes that people get potentially.”

The welterweight MMA fighter isn't against five-round main events, he's against the pay not going up with the rounds. Michael Page felt like things were done too quickly with poor planning.

“I get why it’s done,” he said. “But I feel like it was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to what took place versus sitting down and planning it out properly. And Scott Coker did mention he had spoken about it prior, anyway, but I didn’t see any of that. He may have, as well. It felt like it almost depleted my win against Lima, so it was just done with a bit too much haste. But at the same time, it makes sense. I completely understand why they would do that, and other organizations are already doing it, and it makes sense.

“I’m not just talking for myself, I’m talking for anybody that’s now going to be in that situation. There should now be a discussion about the extra time that’s going to be on that, same with any job in the world. If you’re going to do extra time, there’s talk of extra pay. It just feels like we get bullied a lot in this sport, and we’re already struggling over here. I feel like people need to take a little bit more consideration of the fighter and how it affects them, not just the entertainment side.”

Michael Page actually agrees with Jake Paul when it comes to the conversation about pay in MMA. The Bellator welterweight was not expecting to side with him of all people.

“In all honesty, since then, I’ve actually been a fan in terms of what he’s actually pushing for, which did surprise me,” Page said. “It’s what he’s about in terms of what he’s trying to push on to the sport, and it’s something dear to my heart and something that obviously affects me and affects a lot of my colleagues and a lot of up-and-coming fighters that I’m training with in the gym.

“I would love to see in the next generation coming up that they don’t have the same struggles and complaints going through their career.”

Bellator could be one of the first MMA promotions that attempts to fix the fighter pay issue. Michael Page thinks someone has to go first in order for things to start changing.

“We need a competitor that is actually willing to make those kinds of things happen,” he said. “If it doesn’t start out with the biggest show in MMA, if they’re not willing to do it, other shows are going to have to be the first person to take that step, and it will definitely apply pressure to the biggest shows, because a lot of fighters are going to be like, ‘It’s better over there.’”