Athletes
Payton Talbott Understands Himself Better Now
Ascending Bantamweight Payton Talbott Reflects On Henry Cejudo Win, Time Away Ahead Of UFC 332 Return
While it has been more than nine months since Payton Talbott walked to the Octagon and beat Henry Cejudo at UFC 323, he has made productive use of his time on the sidelines.
“I feel like I’m fortunate enough to spread my activity through a bunch of different things,” Talbott said. “I worked on music, traveled a little bit, worked on some close with Tenōre, and did all kinds of things, so I definitely wasn’t bored. I was busy,” Talbott said. “(Having diverse interests and things to focus on) made it a bit easier, but I do think it was good for me in a way because I realized it was okay to slow down… I’ve been talking a lot this week about how it’s better to be present and do fewer things better than doing a bunch of different things and spreading yourself thin.
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“I do feel like it forced me to do that, and maybe it happened for a reason because man, there were two really slow-paced video games that I played all the way through, and three years ago, I never would have finished them because I would have been like, ‘This isn’t stimulating enough,” Talbott continued, chuckling. “But I just sat, I was patient, and I played them through and enjoyed them.”
Talbott, who faces Deiveson Figueiredo in the co-main event at UFC 332, finished The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom to “damn-near 100-percent completion,” which helped the 28-year-old rising star recognize that slowing down and focusing on fewer things had its positives. Several months earlier, his fight with Cejudo gave him a clearer picture of where he stands as a fighter.
Payton Talbott: “I Kind Of Reinvented Myself” | UFC 332
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Payton Talbott: “I Kind Of Reinvented Myself” | UFC 332
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The matchup was viewed as a meaningful test for the Reno-native and Dana White’s Contender Series graduate. Talbott had rebounded from his January loss to Raoni Barcelos with a summer win over Felipe Lima, and he was stepping into the cage with a decorated former champion and ranked opponent for the first time.
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What most expected to be a challenging matchup turned into a one-way romp for Talbott, who even hit Cejudo with his own signature inside trip takedown on his way to earning a clean sweep of the scorecards and improving his record to 11-1.
“It taught me that I have developed a lot and that I’m able to dismantle a cerebral fighter like Henry. He’s very cerebral, despite what he may seem,” he said. “It showed that I was able to overcome adversity with just my game and my style… I thought it might be kinda weird going into the fight was how I was feeling because I was close with him. I had trained with him… I was always unsure if I was gonna fully be able to turn on that switch, but the minute the bell dinged, I had no respect, so that was good to know that I can still go on there and do what I need to do.”
While going nine months between fights wasn’t exactly what the 12th-ranked bantamweight was anticipating afterward, the break allowed the introspective and thoughtful Talbott to look inward and further refine the picture he has of himself as a fighter.
“I think there are moments you have throughout your career where you overestimate yourself or maybe become complacent in your training,” Talbott said. “Or, maybe on the other side, you train out of anxiety because you feel like you’re not doing enough when, in reality, you are, and you’re just overtraining and breaking your system… For me, I feel like I was a little overconfident earlier on in my career, and I paid for it in that loss. Since then, I’ve changed a little bit of how I’ve trained, and when I fought Felipe, I thought I did better, but it wasn’t what I thought my capabilities were. Then I fought Henry, and I was like, ‘OK, you’re getting to where you need to perform, and you’re becoming a well-rounded fighter at the same time.’
WATCH: Talbott And Figueiredo Go Back-And-Forth At Pre-Fight Press Conference
“When you’re in that cage, you can’t lie,” he added with a smirk. “Everything you’ve been lying about up to that point will come out, so if you have a more accurate representation of yourself, you’re just going to do better in that moment because you are who you are.”
Right now, Talbott feels like someone ready to dive back into the fray in a clash with the former two-time flyweight champion Figueiredo, who has exhibited a little more spark and bite this week than he has over his previous couple of fights, which is pleasing to the returning Contender Series grad.
“It feels good,” he said. “I hate beating people at 70-percent. I don’t like beating people at 50-percent. I don’t like beating people and seeing them go on a skid losing streak after me, so I love it… When my opponent is the most dangerous is when I do best. I’m like that in the training room and I’ve always been like that, so I’m happy.”
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As for when the dust settles and folks are discussing his effort against Figueiredo, the only thing Talbott is concerned with is how they end their assessment.
“Probably ‘blah, blah, blah, blah, blah (blink) … but that kid can fight!’” he said. “I don’t care what they saw about me, but as long as they leave saying that, I feel like I’ve done my job.”
UFC 332: Silva vs Wang took place live from Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 3, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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