Payton Talbott Issues Statement On First Career Loss At UFC 311

UFC bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott has broken his silence after having the undefeated start to his professional career brought to a close this past weekend. Talbott was among the heavy favorites to emerge victorious from the first pay-per-view event of 2025, UFC 311 from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on Jan. 18. But in […]

UFC bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott has broken his silence after having the undefeated start to his professional career brought to a close this past weekend.

Talbott was among the heavy favorites to emerge victorious from the first pay-per-view event of 2025, UFC 311 from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on Jan. 18.

But in the featured preliminary contest, the charismatic 135lber had his charge up the ladder stalled by a veteran of the sport in Raoni Barcelos, who utilized his grappling prowess to outpoint his much younger opponent across three rounds.

While three straight UFC wins and an unblemished 9-0 record brought plenty of hype to Talbott’s name, cries of “fraud checked” were quick to fly around some MMA circles — as is often the case when a promising prospect endures a setback.

But after taking some days to digest the result before releasing a statement, it doesn’t appear as though the defeat in Los Angeles has dented the up-and-comer’s motivation.

“The vet gave me my first scar,” he wrote on Instagram. “May the skin heal itself to be strong and never split again. lucky to have such people in my life. fortunate to be able to learn valuable lessons. still had fun.”

Having opened his Octagon account for the year with a first career loss, Talbott will be looking to reverse his 2025 fortunes when he makes the walk once again.

And at the age of just 26, it’s safe to say that there’s plenty of time for the talented striker to round out his game in the months and years to come.

CSAC Releases Fight-Day Weights For UFC 311; Dvalishvili, Moicano, Talbott Among Biggest Changes

Some fighters piled on plenty of pounds between hitting the scale last Friday and making the walk for the UFC 311 pay-per-view on Saturday. The mixed martial arts leader opened its PPV account for 2025 this past weekend in Los Angeles, where Inglewood’s Intuit Dome played host to two championship contests and a host of […]

Some fighters piled on plenty of pounds between hitting the scale last Friday and making the walk for the UFC 311 pay-per-view on Saturday.

The mixed martial arts leader opened its PPV account for 2025 this past weekend in Los Angeles, where Inglewood’s Intuit Dome played host to two championship contests and a host of intriguing matchups.

While facts such as fight-day weights and base purses are rarely seen officially, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) provides more disclosure for events under its jurisdiction.

And amid conversations in the MMA community after the release of payouts for those who competed at UFC 311, there’s a new topic of discussion regarding weight discrepancy.

Renowned MMA reporter Aaron Bronsteter shared the figures via CSAC this week, with the most notable increases from weigh-in day to fight night coming from Tagir Ulanbekov, Payton Talbott, Merab Dvalishvili, Raoni Barcelos and Renato Moicano — all of whom weighed 17 percent more a day on from weighing in.

With his 26.8-pound change, Moicano was 3.8 pounds heavier for his unsuccessful title challenger opposite Islam Makhachev in the UFC 311 main event.

The biggest discrepancy, meanwhile, came in the main card middleweight contest between Reinier de Ridder and Kevin Holland. With a 15 percent increase, the Dutchman boasted a 21.6-pound advantage over “Trailblazer,” who gained just 4 percent post-weigh-in.

Second in that regard was the gap between Jamahal Hill and Ji?í Procházka. “Sweet Dreams” took to the cage 13.6 pounds heavier than his fellow former champ, who ultimately emerged victorious after knocking the American out in round three.

CSAC Releases Fight-Day Weights For UFC 311; Dvalishvili, Moicano, Talbott Among Biggest Changes

Some fighters piled on plenty of pounds between hitting the scale last Friday and making the walk for the UFC 311 pay-per-view on Saturday. The mixed martial arts leader opened its PPV account for 2025 this past weekend in Los Angeles, where Inglewood’s Intuit Dome played host to two championship contests and a host of […]

Some fighters piled on plenty of pounds between hitting the scale last Friday and making the walk for the UFC 311 pay-per-view on Saturday.

The mixed martial arts leader opened its PPV account for 2025 this past weekend in Los Angeles, where Inglewood’s Intuit Dome played host to two championship contests and a host of intriguing matchups.

While facts such as fight-day weights and base purses are rarely seen officially, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) provides more disclosure for events under its jurisdiction.

And amid conversations in the MMA community after the release of payouts for those who competed at UFC 311, there’s a new topic of discussion regarding weight discrepancy.

Renowned MMA reporter Aaron Bronsteter shared the figures via CSAC this week, with the most notable increases from weigh-in day to fight night coming from Tagir Ulanbekov, Payton Talbott, Merab Dvalishvili, Raoni Barcelos and Renato Moicano — all of whom weighed 17 percent more a day on from weighing in.

With his 26.8-pound change, Moicano was 3.8 pounds heavier for his unsuccessful title challenger opposite Islam Makhachev in the UFC 311 main event.

The biggest discrepancy, meanwhile, came in the main card middleweight contest between Reinier de Ridder and Kevin Holland. With a 15 percent increase, the Dutchman boasted a 21.6-pound advantage over “Trailblazer,” who gained just 4 percent post-weigh-in.

Second in that regard was the gap between Jamahal Hill and Ji?í Procházka. “Sweet Dreams” took to the cage 13.6 pounds heavier than his fellow former champ, who ultimately emerged victorious after knocking the American out in round three.

‘Needs To Go To Dagestan’ – Fans React As Payton Talbott Suffers First Career Loss In One-Sided Fashion vs. Raoni Barcelos At UFC 311

In what has perhaps been the biggest shock of the night thus far at UFC 311 — the promotion’s first pay-per-view card of the year — Payton Talbott’s undefeated record came to an end at the hands of Raoni Barcelos. Barcelos dominated the fight from start to finish, using his size and wrestling to success. […]

In what has perhaps been the biggest shock of the night thus far at UFC 311 — the promotion’s first pay-per-view card of the year — Payton Talbott’s undefeated record came to an end at the hands of Raoni Barcelos.

Barcelos dominated the fight from start to finish, using his size and wrestling to success. The Brazilian, in fact, dominated the opening round and appeared to put a hurting on the American up-and-comer. Talbott had a sense of urgency in the second round, trying to take control and come out on the front foot, but Barcelos simply did more.

The veteran’s success continued into the third round, as he swept the judges’ scorecards.

Raoni Barcelos Hands Payton Talbott First Loss In Dominant Display At UFC 311

Arriving to the UFC off a win on Dana White’s Contender Series, Talbott had scored wins over Nick Aguirre, Cameron Saaiman, and Yanis Ghemmouri.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s result marked Barcelos’ second straight win, with his last fight coming back at UFC Mexico City last year, where he defeated Cristian Quiñonez.

Payton Talbott Has Surprise Opponent In Mind After UFC 311 Return: ‘He Has This Vendetta Against Women’

Payton Talbott was one of the breakout stars of 2024 after extending his winning streak inside the Octagon to 3-0. The 26-year old earned back-to-back performance bonuses for his finishes over Cameron Saaiman and Yanis Ghemmouri which have marked him out as one of the most exciting bantamweights in the world right now. He’s now […]

Payton Talbott was one of the breakout stars of 2024 after extending his winning streak inside the Octagon to 3-0. The 26-year old earned back-to-back performance bonuses for his finishes over Cameron Saaiman and Yanis Ghemmouri which have marked him out as one of the most exciting bantamweights in the world right now.

He’s now set to continue this momentum into 2025 when at UFC 311 on January 18, he takes on Brazil’s Raoni Barcelos at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Whilst the 11-fight UFC veteran is his primary focus right now, Talbott has his eyes on another potential opponent.

Rather than having a name in and around the top 15 which he hopes to meet inside the Octagon if he is successful against Barcelos, the Las Vegas native has a bone to pick with the incredibly controversial Andrew Tate. As a former kickboxer who last competed in 2020, Tate has been linked with fighters calling him out for several years.

His current legal issues, which include him being placed under house arrest in Romania for human trafficking, have stopped any form of contest from ever happening but Talbott still wanted to put his intentions out there during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani show.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Yeah, let’s get that going. I’d take that; I’d take that. Yeah, yeah, it’s just a free-for-all.”

When asked why he wants to have a fight with Tate, who is a huge name in popular culture for a lot of undesirable reasons, Talbott said that it’s his heavily criticized views on women that particularly bother him.

“He’s just the antithesis of me,” Talbott said. “It seems like someone just cheated on him when he was younger, and now he has this vendetta against women. I feel like he takes himself super seriously, and it’s just like, he’s kind of a poison for masculine culture.”

Payton Talbott Has Surprise Opponent In Mind After UFC 311 Return: ‘He Has This Vendetta Against Women’

Payton Talbott was one of the breakout stars of 2024 after extending his winning streak inside the Octagon to 3-0. The 26-year old earned back-to-back performance bonuses for his finishes over Cameron Saaiman and Yanis Ghemmouri which have marked him out as one of the most exciting bantamweights in the world right now. He’s now […]

Payton Talbott was one of the breakout stars of 2024 after extending his winning streak inside the Octagon to 3-0. The 26-year old earned back-to-back performance bonuses for his finishes over Cameron Saaiman and Yanis Ghemmouri which have marked him out as one of the most exciting bantamweights in the world right now.

He’s now set to continue this momentum into 2025 when at UFC 311 on January 18, he takes on Brazil’s Raoni Barcelos at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Whilst the 11-fight UFC veteran is his primary focus right now, Talbott has his eyes on another potential opponent.

Rather than having a name in and around the top 15 which he hopes to meet inside the Octagon if he is successful against Barcelos, the Las Vegas native has a bone to pick with the incredibly controversial Andrew Tate. As a former kickboxer who last competed in 2020, Tate has been linked with fighters calling him out for several years.

His current legal issues, which include him being placed under house arrest in Romania for human trafficking, have stopped any form of contest from ever happening but Talbott still wanted to put his intentions out there during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani show.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Yeah, let’s get that going. I’d take that; I’d take that. Yeah, yeah, it’s just a free-for-all.”

When asked why he wants to have a fight with Tate, who is a huge name in popular culture for a lot of undesirable reasons, Talbott said that it’s his heavily criticized views on women that particularly bother him.

“He’s just the antithesis of me,” Talbott said. “It seems like someone just cheated on him when he was younger, and now he has this vendetta against women. I feel like he takes himself super seriously, and it’s just like, he’s kind of a poison for masculine culture.”