It’s been most of a year since we last saw Payton Talbott inside the Octagon.
Back in December, Talbott picked up one of the most impressive wins of his young career by dominating Henry Cejudo in the former champion’s retirement fight. Not only did Talbott batter “Triple C,” he even landed his own signature inside trip of the Olympian! The victory earned Talbott, winner of five of six UFC bouts, a lot of momentum.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t really been able to capitalize from the sidelines. Despite vocally asking for fights, Talbott never managed to get anything booked until this weekend’s (Sat., Oct. 3, 2o26) bout versus Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 331 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Talbott opened up about his absence in a recent video on his YouTube page. When asked about competing at the UFC White House card, Talbott revealed he was in talks to fight Sean O’Malley but an alleged “broken foot” derailed that matchup … and many others?
“I was supposed to fight Sean [O’Malley], then I was supposed to fight him, I was supposed to fight her, all kinds of names,” Talbott began when asked about the White House. “Supposedly when I was supposed to fight them, they all had a broken foot. I was like, ‘Dude, what’s up with everybody’s feet?‘ It must be something in the water. They were like, ‘Oh, so and so broke his foot. He really wants to fight you, but his foot is broken. This guy, he was gonna fight you, but this morning he broke his foot.’
“Then it’s funny, because the same names that said their feet were broken are suddenly getting booked … it could be UFC, it could be people scared. I wonder which?“
At 28 years of age, Talbott is one of the most exciting up-and-comers on the roster. Despite the wait, this matchup versus “Daico” is a great opportunity to break into the Bantamweight Top 10. Perhaps with a number next to his name, this plague of broken feet would finally settle down?
