The 28-year-old has not competed since last December when he scored the biggest win of his career defeating the former two-division champion Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision.
Instead of capitalizing on that momentum, Talbott was forced to sit out nearly a year. It wasn’t for lack of trying either. Talbott wanted to compete and was ready, but the phone call he was waiting for never came.
Talbott revealed this week he was offered a showdown together Sean O’Malley in June for the UFC’s historic White House card, but the bout did not materialize.
Instead of wasting his unwanted time away, Talbott used the layoff to self-reflect, return to his roots, and make significant changes.
“It’s kind of weird because it’s still so new to me, but I just kept training,” Talbott told UFC.com. “I was ready and trained for almost a year and I feel like I kind of reinvented myself. I went back to my roots — I went inward.
“As you develop in the sport, you use all these techniques,” Talbott continued. “You go out of town and pick people’s brains. Sometimes you take things and apply them to your game, but sometimes there’s a reason you got where you are. So you have to learn to apply it properly, not let it change you completely and use the best of what you learn.
It will be interesting to see exactly what Talbott’s reinvention looks like, as he has been nearly flawless inside the Octagon outside of his huge upset loss Raoni’s Barcelos.
That defeat exposed some holes in Talbott’s game, especially against a relentless frame. However, he already showed significant progress against Cejudo.
Figueiredo now presents another stern test and the perfect opponent to reveal just how much Talbott has improved during his long absence.
Fortunately, the wait is almost over.
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