The UFC Has a New Star On Its Hands With Payton Talbott
It took UFC bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott just 129 seconds to do what no one else has been able to do, and that’s knock out former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo with strikes, which he did in the co-main event of UFC 332, which took place on October 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Despite facing many of the heaviest hitters in the UFC bantamweight division, the only other times that Figueiredo was stopped by TKO were due to a doctor stoppage against Brandon Moreno and a knee injury to Cory Sandhagen.
No one was able to finish him with strikes until Talbott came along.
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Just 28 years of age, Talbott improved to 12-1 in his MMA career and 6-1 overall in the UFC with the knockout win over Figueiredo, an incredibly impressive performance that will shoot Talbott far up the UFC rankings at 135 lbs.
The UFC has a new star on its hands, folks, as Talbott both looks and acts the part inside the Octagon, which is a great thing for the promotion, which is always looking to find the next big star in MMA.
Payton Talbott Has Greatly Improved
At UFC 311 in January 2025, Talbott lost as a massive favorite to veteran Raoni Barcelos in what was one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.
It was a rough loss for Talbott at the time, as fans and analysts said that he was “fraud-checked” by the veteran Barcelos.
But after Barcelos ripped off five straight wins, the loss to him didn’t look so far for Talbott in hindsight.
If anything, it may have been a blessing in disguise for the youngster, who has looked incredible since that loss, as he’s won his last three fights in a row over Figueiredo, Henry Cejudo, and Felipe Lima, showing off his improved skills and a well-rounded game.
Sometimes, a young fighter needs to experience a loss to really look into the mirror and realize that what they were doing wasn’t good enough to be great in this sport, and it appears that’s exactly what has happened with Talbott.
He has looked absolutely incredible as of late and is now potentially just one more win away from fighting for the UFC bantamweight title, which is currently held by Petr Yan.
Payton Talbott Calls Out Sean O’Malley
After taking care of business against Figueiredo, Talbott made an excellent callout when he said he wants to fight former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley next.
O’Malley is one of the best bantamweights in the sport and has been looking great himself as of late, having won back-to-back fights over Aiemann Zahabi and Song Yadong.
While we still need to wait to see how the UFC 333 bantamweight title fight between Yan and Merab Dvalishvili plays out, I still really like this callout by Talbott, as a fight against O’Malley would be fan-friendly since both men prefer to stand and strike.
For his part, O’Malley has since responded to the callout and appears to also be interested in the fight, though of course, if the UFC offers him a title shot against the winner of Yan vs. Dvalishvili, he’ll fight for the belt instead.
Still, it was a sensible callout for Talbott, who could be the UFC’s next big superstar.
The guy clearly knows how to fight; he knows how to talk, and he also has a unique look that is different from most other UFC fighters.
It looks like the UFC has struck gold here with Talbott, and he isn’t far away now from potentially becoming a world champion at the highest level of the sport.
With one more win over O’Malley or another one of the elite bantamweight contenders in the UFC, look for Talbott to fight for UFC gold sometime in 2027, and you know UFC president Dana White and Co. would be rooting for him to win, as they see the dollar signs in their eyes with Talbott, someone who could be a massive star in this sport.
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This story was originally published by Lindys Sports on Oct 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the Other Sports section. Add Lindys Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.