Payton Talbott suffered a shocking upset loss against Raoni Barcelos on Saturday night.
The rising bantamweight star was backed by musician Frank Ocean before putting his perfect 9-0 record on the line at UFC 311.
Payton Talbott was a massive favorite to get the win, but he was dominated at the Intuit Dome in California.
Ultimately, he slumped to a lopsided 30-27, 30-27, 30-26 unanimous decision defeat to Raoni Barcelos.
Payton Talbott dominated at UFC 311
Barcelos threatened to pull off a big upset from the very first bell. The Brazilian scored an early takedown and immediately began locking up a rear-naked choke.
Talbott did well to stay composed during his first taste of MMA adversity, but he failed to land any significant strikes and was dominated on the floor for nearly all of the five-minute frame.
Barcelos continued to show he was the more competent grappler in the second stanza, but he also proved that he was a threat on the feet when Talbott stood up.
After two rounds, it was clear that Barcelos was ahead on the scorecards.
Talbott countered his opponent’s wrestling attacks with a throw in round three. The 26-year-old tried to land ground strikes before all hell broke loose when they returned to their feet.
Both men were swinging for the fences during a pulsating flurry that could’ve ended the fighter in either direction. Ultimately, Barcelos showed his maturity by putting a stop to the firefight and grinding out the round in top position after landing another takedown.
Payton Talbott checked by the champion
Talbott’s poor performance topped off a tough fight week, which included a viral clash with Merab Dvalishvili.
The bantamweight king remembered Talbott calling him ‘dumber than a box of rocks’ during an interview with ESPN before UFC 303 last June – and ‘The Machine’ let him have it when they bumped into each other.
During fight week, Dvalishvili showed footage of the two bantamweights crossing paths. They appeared to wish each other luck before things got awkward as the Georgian fighter brought up old trash talk.
“Next time don’t talk trash about me,” Dvalishvili hollered at Talbott. “You said I’m dumb, remember?”
Dvalishvili walked up to Talbott, but they appeared to squash the beef before shaking hands and moving on.
After his showing at UFC 311, it seems Talbott has lots of work to do before he can mention Dvalishvili’s name again.