Undefeated bantamweight Payton Talbott knows just how dangerous his UFC Vegas 89 opponent can be as he eyes another ‘late finish’ this weekend.
With a perfect professional record of 7-0, 25-year-old Payton Talbott heads into UFC Vegas 89 with six stoppage wins under his belt – all of which came in either the second, or third rounds.
He faces the rising South African star Cameron Saaiman this weekend and whilst Talbott is expecting another tough fight against a fellow UFC novice, the Las Vegas native is doubling down on his ‘late finish’ record.
Payton Talbott predicts a ‘late finish’ over Saaiman at UFC Vegas 89
It’s a fight that many fans and pundits are expecting to be a Fight of the Night contender, with both Talbott and Saaiman being knockout specialists with a combined 11 KO/TKO wins between them already.
Talbott is coming off a third-round victory against Nick Aguirre and has a perfect record of 7-0, whilst Saaiman is looking to bounce back from the first loss of his career against Christian Rodriguez.
Speaking with UFC News ahead of his main card matchup against the South African, Talbott explained that he was “ecstatic” about being offered such a young and exciting fighter as Saaiman:
“I was happy, I was ecstatic. That’s the perfect matchup, that’s the people’s fight, and I’ll take that any day. He represents a newer generation of fighting [and] I think we’re both really excited to get after each other.”
“He’s got some good vibes and I like the way he approaches the fight game; it’s not like a lot of people,” said the Las Vegas native, adding “I also know he’s a dog [and] he has an intense belief in himself – he’s gonna come ready to throw.”
Talbott has never won or lost a fight in the first round, yet has only seen the judges’ scorecards once in his career to date – and the Las Vegas native is hopeful of getting another late finish this weekend:
“A finish — that’s really what I’m hoping for. I know he’s really, really tough and it’s going to be hard to get there, but a finish late in the fight is success for me.”
Talbott also wants out of the Apex by the end of 2024
Should Talbott get his hand raised this weekend at the Apex, the next stage of his UFC career will be getting the opportunity to fight in front of a packed-out arena.
Talbott made his way to the UFC via Dana White’s Contender Series with his full UFC debut back in November 2023 both being held at the Apex, which currently only holds a few hundred people at a time.
“I think by the end of the year I want to compete for a crowd; I want to experience that and try to sell a bunch of tickets,” he said.
“I want to fight somebody that I actually know…I feel like the guys I’m getting matched up with, I don’t really know because I don’t know a lot of fighters and have to do all this research.”
The 25-year-old noted that once a matchup with a household name materializes, only “then I feel like I’ve made it.”
Talbott vs Saaiman takes place on the main card of UFC Vegas 89, which goes down from the Apex on Saturday, March 23.