Payton Talbott has been the talk of the Bantamweight division ever since turning off Deiveison Figueiredo last weekend at UFC 332. It was Talbott’s third win in a row following decisions over Henry Cejudo and Felipe Lima.
Talbott’s first-round stoppage of Figueiredo, a former flyweight champion known for his durability, has excited many in the sport. Former champions Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier have independently talked about him as a future star. And Cormier, who was on the phone last night, went so far as to say that Talbott Vs. Sean O’Malley is a fight that needs to happen as soon as possible.
O’Malley coach Tim Welch didn’t like what he heard from DC that night. He expressed this on his YouTube channel (I think everyone has one of these now).
“I think one of the commentators said, ‘I think Sean is waiting for a title shot. No, that won’t happen. Come on now. Don’t expect a title shot, fight Payton Talbot “who’s not ranked,” Welch said, referring to the UFC 332 show. “And that’s right, DC, remember when you fought for the title, that pay gap? How much more would you pay to fight for the title or the world title compared to fighting the #11 ranked guy now? I wonder if he remembers that.”
Welch also took issue with Cejudo’s assertion of how dangerous Talbott was now in the division.
“Henry Cejudo says nobody wants to fight Payton Talbott and I don’t know how true that is because I guarantee Marcus (McGhee) would fight Payton Talbott. I guarantee it. He’s licking his chops for that fight.”
McGee also won at UFC 332, defeating opponent Anthony Romero by first-round TKO on short notice.
Welch also revealed that he and O’Malley were waiting to see what happens at UFC 333 on October 24 when Petr Yan defends his belt against Merab Dvalishvili – a rematch from last December. Welch suggested that if Dvalishvili wins, the possibility of O’Malley fighting for the belt next (since O’Malley has already lost twice to Dvalishvili) will evaporate.
If Yan does win, Welch likes O’Malley’s chance of being in a title shot. O’Malley defeated Yan in 2022 by a sharp split.
“If Petr loses, man, ‘Suga’ vs. Payton Talbott is a sick, sick damn fight, man,” Welch added.
And Welch seems pretty confident that his man will win this fight. But what else does he say?
“Because Payton, the way he fakes his uppercut, the way he stutters his jabs, stutters his one-twos, it’s almost like he’s fighting just like ‘Suga,’ just a little bit slower,” Welch said. “Just a bit slower and he’s coming out and he’s pressuring people and I just want this fight to happen one day. But I swear on my dad’s life, we weren’t offered this fight.”
At the end of this statement, Welch refers to Talbott’s claim that O’Malley chased him down in June as a potential opponent on the White House card. Both camps seem pretty adamant about their claims on this. The UFC certainly didn’t drop hints to people about who was and wasn’t offered a fight, right?
Regardless of whether or not the UFC previously planned an O’Malley vs. Talbott fight or not, it is now clear that these two young men cannot be kept apart forever. I’m team Cormier hoping we see this fight sooner rather than later.