Payton Talbott says he ‘reinvented’ himself ahead of UFC 332

Talbott defeated the former
Ultimate Fighting Championship two-division title holder
Henry Cejudo on its last outing in December. The lightweight prospect returns to action at UFC 332 on Oct. 3 after spending much of the year focused on training in anticipation of his next fight.

Payton Talbott explains what changed before facing Deiveson Figueiredo

Talbott, facing the former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo said Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City that the extended time spent working on the game allowed him to reinvent aspects of his fighting style.

“Yeah, it was kind of weird,” Talbott told UFC when asked about his nine-month hiatus. “It’s all still new to me, so I just tried to stay fit and just be ready. I mean, I trained for almost a year and I feel like I reinvented myself a little bit and went back to my roots, went inward.”

Talbott explained that his development has involved gathering techniques and lessons while making sure he doesn’t lose the qualities that made him successful.

“You go and train out of town, you pick people’s brains and sometimes you take things from them and apply them to your game,” Talbott added. “But often the reason you got to where you are is because of you. So you just have to learn to apply it properly and not let it completely change you, but use the best of what you’ve learned.”