UFC legend Kenny Florian is backing underdog Cameron Saaiman to earn an enormous win at this weekend’s Fight Night over undefeated prospect Payton Talbott.
Cameron Saaiman is a slight underdog and coming off the first loss of his professional career heading into this weekend’s UFC Fight Night card, where he will face undefeated 25-year-old Payton Talbott.
Whilst many within the MMA space, including the bookies, predict that Talbott will earn his 13th consecutive win on Saturday evening, Kenny Florian is riding with the underdog and thinks that experience as well as a more well-rounded skillset will see the South African come out on top.
Kenny Florian is backing underdog Cameron Saaiman at UFC Fight Night
Saaiman suffered the first loss of his professional career in October 2023 at the hands of Christian Rodriguez, which is certainly nothing to be ashamed of considering Rodriguez himself made headlines with an impressive comeback win last weekend at UFC Vegas 88.
Yet at only 23 years old, the South African youngster has plenty of time to grow into his UFC tenure and has the opportunity to get back into the win column this Saturday when he faces undefeated American, Payton Talbott, at the Apex.
Saaiman is a slight underdog at the time of writing, as per DraftKings Sportsbook, with many expecting fireworks when these two young, hungry prospects step into the octagon – including UFC veteran and MMA commentator Kenny Florian.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Anik and Florian Podcast, ‘KenFlo’ shared that the experience gained from the Rodriguez loss should be enough for Saaiman to get an underdog upset:
“We certainly know how good Christian Rodriguez is and that was a close fight…To me what it showed was that Saaiman is a very skillful guy,” explained Florian.
“He’s good on the ground, he’s good on the feet, has a variety of skills, he’s very confident and Talbott…I don’t think that he has, or has shown yet the experience or the skills to say that he deserves this -162 [favorite] number.”
‘KenFlo’ noted that Saaiman is “the better fighter” and “certainly the more experienced fighter” out of the two, with the possibility of seeing an injury-free ‘MSP’ also working in the underdog’s favor:
“He was also dealing with ear issues apparently, blown out eardrum or something like that, had a nose issue as well so I think we’re going to see a healthy Saaiman and a guy who really learned [from his last loss]. He means business, this is a pro – so I like him here against Talbott…Right now I think Saaiman’s the more skillful fighter and at +136 is pretty juicy.”
Cameron Saaiman vs Payton Talbott takes place on the main card of UFC Vegas 89, set to take place from the UFC Apex on March 23.