There are some tough jobs out there, and one of those would be a professional fighter. From WWE to kickboxing, there are plenty of athletes who make a living in the ring. Of course, MMA has been one of the most popular fields for fighters to enter as of late, and it seems like one of its athletes found a way to get fans on their feet over in Japan.
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Really, it was pretty simple. The only thing Michael ‘Venom’ Page needed to do was cosplay as Itachi Uchiha.
Over on Reddit, a video went live of the MMA fighter entering a match during a visit in Japan. Page walked out in a full Naruto cosplay at the event, and he even made sure to practice to ninja run before heading out.
MMA fighter, Michael “Venom” Page, cosplays as Itachi Uchiha during his walkout last night in Japan. from r/Naruto
As you can see above, the Naruto cosplay puts Page in a full-length Akatsuki cloak with all the red clouds attached. He is also wearing a headband that’s been slashed, and the symbol happens to belong to Konoha. That means Page decided to channel his inner Itachi for this look, and he pulls it off short of having the actual Sharigan.
Of course, Page is not the only athlete to pay homage to Naruto during an event. When it comes to the NFL and NBA, there are dozens of anime fans running about. And if you look to the UFC, you will find some mega-fans such as Israel Adesanya who has honored Rock Lee and Gaara in the ring during fights.
Are you excited to see this in-ring cosplay? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, Naruto follows a young ninja, with a sealed demon within him, that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The series ran for 700 chapters overall, and was adapted into an anime series by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex that ran from 2002 to 2017. The series was popular enough to warrant a sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations which is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and features the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.
