Payton Talbott, previously undefeated with a 9-0 record, acknowledged his first professional loss against Raoni Barcelos at UFC 311, expressing gratitude for the learning experience and optimism for future resilience.
Payton Talbott finally speaks out after his unexpected defeat at UFC 311 last Saturday. Yep, it was a shocker.
At just 26, this bantamweight came in with a spotless 9-0 record. Odds were heavily in his favor, somewhere around -1200, depending on who you asked. Raoni Barcelos, though? He was the underdog of underdogs at +700 and pulled off a historic upset by outworking Talbott for three rounds. Crazy, right?
On Wednesday, Talbott took to Instagram to share his thoughts. Here’s what he had to say.
“The vet gave me my first scar,” Talbott wrote. “May the skin heal itself to be strong and never split again. Lucky to have such people in my life. Fortunate to learn valuable lessons. Still had fun.” Deep stuff.
Talbott’s been in the pro scene since 2021, while Barcelos has been grinding for seven years with several UFC bouts behind him. Experience won that night; Talbott lost decisively.
Before this hiccup, Talbott was on fire! He won his first three UFC fights, including an insane 19-second KO of Yanis Ghemmouri at UFC 303. Talk about making a statement!
As for Barcelos, he’s now riding a two-fight win streak, bumping up his UFC record to 8-4. Not too shabby for the veteran fighter.
Catch Talbott’s Anything But Fighting chat with MMA Fighting’s José Youngs above. It’s worth a watch!