Payton Anthony Talbott (born September 9, 1998) is an American professional mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). An undefeated professional competitor since 2021, he earned his contract with the major promotion after going through

Dana White's Contender Series Dana White's Contender Series, formerly named Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series, is an American mixed martial arts promotion. In May 2017, the UFC announced White would hold the competition weekly on UFC Fight Pass (It has since been move ...

Early life

Payton Anthony Talbott was born on in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States and grew up in Reno, Nevada where he still lives. Of partial African American and

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

descent, his mom is a plastic surgeon and he has four siblings: one sister and three brothers. Before discovering mixed martial arts, Talbott played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and competitively wrestled while a student at Reno High School.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

In 2017, Talbott started training in mixed martial arts at the Reno Academy of Combat. He chose to begin mixed martial arts classes when he saw Conor McGregor’s highlights while sitting at a restaurant, having stopped sports for his college studies. After seven to eight months of training, his coaches proposed to him to made his amateur debut. Talbott then faced all his first opponents in several amateur King of the Cage: Future Legends events from March 2018 to August 2021. He became a two-time KOTC Amateur Bantamweight Champion during his amateur run before turning professional with a total 5–0 amateur record and a 100% finish rate. Talbott made his professional debut on November 27, 2021, at FirePower 3: Magnum Force in Sacramento, California and finished his opponent in the second round. After a second technical knockout win at FirePower 4: Sudden Impact, he made his third fight at Urijah Faber's A1 Combat and won the A1 Combat Bantamweight Championship on May 28, 2022 in

Wheatland, California Wheatland is the second-largest city by population in Yuba County, California, United States. The population was 3,456 at the 2010 census, up from 2,275 at the 2000 census. Wheatland is located southeast of Marysville. Geography Wheatland is ...

, beating Hector Fajardo by technical knockout in the second round. He then successfully defended his title twice and won both fights via technical knockout. First, he finished Anthony Jimenez with a flying knee and punches in the second round on October 22, 2022. Talbott then defeated Cristhian Rivas with punches and elbow strikes in round three on March 18, 2023 to earn his fifth knockout win as a professional.

Dana White’s Contender Series

On August 8, 2023, Talbott faced Reyes Cortez Jr. on Dana White's Contender Series: Season 7, Week 1. He outstriked Cortez in rounds 2 and 3 by putting forward pressure. Landing several hooks, jabs and knees, he finished the fight with 145 significant strikes. Talbott then won the fight via unanimous decision with all three judges scoring 29–28 and the two last rounds for him. His victory earned him the promised contract in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. UFC and

president Dana White called him an "absolute predator" after the fight where he set a record for significant strikes landed by a bantamweight.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Talbott then made his promotional debut on November 18, 2023, facing Nick Aguirre at

UFC Fight Night 232 ''UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Craig'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 232, UFC on ESPN+ 90'' and ''UFC Vegas 82'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 18, 2023, at the UFC Apex ...

. After a praised and dominating performance, he managed to win the fight by submission in the third round via a rear-naked choke. For his second bout in the UFC, he faced South African prospect

Cameron Saaiman Cameron Saaiman (born 20 December 2000) is a South African mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Saaiman was born on 20 December 2000 in Pretoria, South Africa ...

on March 23, 2024, at

UFC on ESPN 53 ''UFC on ESPN: Ribas vs. Namajunas'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 53'' and ''UFC Vegas 89'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 23, 2024, at UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada, Unite ...

. He ended up winning the fight by technical knockout in round two. After all three judges scored the round one 10–9 for Talbott, he knocked his opponent down early in the second round and finished him via ground-and-pound. This victory earned him his first ''

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

'' bonus award in his career and was acclaimed by pundits as well as former UFC champions Aljamain Sterling and Jamahal Hill. Still undefeated with a professional finish rate of 88%, Talbott faced French-Algerian fighter Yanis Ghemmouri on June 29, 2024, at UFC 303. He won the fight via knockout in an expeditious manner after only 19 seconds in the first round, knocking Ghemmouri down with a straight right and finishing him with a few punches on the ground. This win earned him another ''Performance of the Night'' award.

Fighting style

Talbott is with a reach of . Fighting in the bantamweight division with upper limit at , Talbott's walk-around natural weight is about . He prefers to stand and strike as opposed to fight on the ground, jabs being his favorite striking technique. In particular, he cited UFC legend Max Holloway and International Boxing Hall of Famer

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

as inspirations. He primarily fights out of the orthodox stance. Talking about his style, he said: "''My striking is extremely adaptable. It’s not just good and it’s not just high volume. I adapt based on what my opponent does very well. I’m very comfortable throwing when I’m uncomfortable. That, along with my cardio, makes it a huge challenge for people.''"

Personal life

Talbott graduated from the University of Nevada with a bachelor's degree majoring in psychology and minoring in music in 2022. He became interested in and studied music therapy to see how music can help people who are struggling with mental illnesses. Starting out wanting to study clinical psychology, he then focused on neuroscience. While his mixed martial arts career had started when he was still in college, he didn’t choose to take it up as a career until he was 2–0 as a pro. Talbott is a skateboard enthusiast and passionate about music but wasn't a fan of mixed martial arts nor the UFC until he was a high school senior. He began playing the guitar as a child after trying the trombone and then taught himself to play the violin. He has a vinyl record collection that includes The Doors,

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

, Neil Young, Tupac Shakur and the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

. Having a YouTube channel where he posts experimental videos to promote his career and fights, he told to

Ariel Helwani Ariel Helwani (born July 8, 1982) is a Canadian-American sports journalist, known for his coverage of mixed martial arts (MMA). He is best known for his work at ''MMA Fighting'', but has also worked for Fox and ESPN. Helwani is widely considered ...

The MMA Hour ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

that he edits those himself with a friend. He also loves

cliff jumping Cliff jumping is jumping off a cliff as a form of sport. When done without equipment, it may be also known as tombstoning. It forms part of the sport of coastal exploration or "coasteering". When performed with a parachute, it is known as BASE ju ...

, climbing and

pole dancing Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics centered on a vertical pole. This performance art form takes place not only in gentleman's clubs as erotic dance, but also as a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and dedicated dance studios ...

. His mother and sister are pole fitness instructors. In June 2024, he met famous skateboarder and his childhood icon Tony Hawk. He still works as a barista besides his sporting career and had plans of becoming a firefighter.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

Professional

* Ultimate Fighting Championship **

(Two times) vs. **Third fastest knockout/finish in UFC Bantamweight division history (0:19) *Urijah Faber's A1 Combat **A1 Combat Bantamweight Championship (One time) ***Two successful title defenses

Amateur

* King of the Cage **KOTC Amateur Bantamweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Yanis Ghemmouri , KO (punches) , UFC 303 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:19 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC on ESPN: Ribas vs. Namajunas , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:21 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Nick Aguirre , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Craig , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:58 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Reyes Cortez Jr. , Decision (unanimous) , Dana White's Contender Series 57 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Cristhian Rivas , TKO (punches and elbows) , Urijah Faber's A1 Combat 9 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:35 , Long Beach, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Anthony Jimenez , TKO (flying knee and punches) , Urijah Faber's A1 Combat 6 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:26 , Commerce, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Hector Fajardo , TKO (punches) , Urijah Faber's A1 Combat 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:51 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Billy Brand , TKO (punches) , FirePower 4: Sudden Impact , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:36 , Sacramento, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Abdikabyl Kaldar , TKO (punches) , FirePower 3: Magnum Force , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:06 , Sacramento, California, United States , Source:

Amateur record

, - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Alex Gamez , TKO (punch and head kick) , KOTC: Future Legends 47 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:12 , Reno, Nevada, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Cameron Sandoval , Submission (rear-naked choke) , KOTC: Future Legends 45 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:35 , Reno, Nevada, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Taylor Cuisinot , TKO (punches) , KOTC: Future Legends 44 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:42 , Reno, Nevada, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Joseph Lee , TKO (punches) , KOTC: Future Legends 41 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:42 , Reno, Nevada, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Ernesto Villegas , Submission (rear-naked choke) , KOTC: Future Legends 40 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:12 , Reno, Nevada, U.S. , Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Talbott, Payton 1998 births Living people American people of Choctaw descent African-American mixed martial artists 21st-century African-American sportspeople People from Reno, Nevada American male mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists from Nevada Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters University of Nevada, Reno alumni 21st-century American sportsmen