Few competitors entered this year with more buzz and greater expectations being placed on their shoulders than Payton Talbott, the bantamweight prospect who is heading into 2025 with a perfect 9-0 record, consecutive highlight reel finishes, and most everyone projecting big things for him, both this year and long term.
And then he faltered. More correctly, he ran into a talented Brazilian veteran in Raoni Barcelos, who bounced the Dana White’s Contender Series grad from the ranks of the unbeaten at UFC 311. That setback prompted some to recalibrate their projections for Talbott, who went into the bout eagerly anticipating a challenging night at the office, and they did so again after the Reno Academy of Combat representative got things moving in the right direction again with a unanimous decision victory over fellow prospect Felipe Lima at UFC 317 in June.