Payton Talbott put on an amazing performance in the co-main event of UFC 332, knocking out former champion Deiveson Figueiredo in just over two minutes (highlights here). That’s the second past UFC champ in a row that Talbott has taken out with ease, and now he’s looking for number three: Sean O’Malley.
There was a strange lack of hype for Talbott’s return, possibly due to the 10 month layoff or possibly due to the overall weakness of UFC 332 as a card. But the 28 year old did generate some headlines
by suggesting Sean O’Malley ducked him for the White House card, a charge “Suga” denied strongly.
Following his highlight reel KO of Figueiredo, Talbott called out O’Malley again.
“I just mopped the floor with two champions back to back, and now I want another one,” Talbott declared in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “Andrew Garfield — I mean Sean O’Malley! You can’t run forever. Give the people what they want!”
At the UFC 332 post-fight press conference, Talbott was realistic about his chances of actually fighting O’Malley. The former bantamweight champion is currently hoping to parlay his wins over Song Yadong and Aiemann Zahabi into another title shot. What happens next really depends on who wins on November 24th when current champ Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili fight for the third time.
“I think if Merab wins, then it’s a no-brainer,” Talbott said of a fight against O’Malley. “He’s already fought Merab a bunch of times and lost.”
“If Yan wins then I don’t know, we’ll have to see. He is in a higher position than me, we’ll see where my rank goes. So I understand the position that I’m in. But, I mean, it’s a fun fight. I think both of us should want it. He’s called the best striker in the division and I’d like to put that to the test.”
Ever since Payton Talbott exploded onto the scene, fans have wanted to see him face off against Sean O’Malley. Now we’re in a position where it could actually happen, and O’Malley absolutely refuses to pour any gas on that fire.
We can’t blame him … he holds a controversial decision win over Petr Yan which would undoubtedly put him right back into a title fight if Yan bests Dvalishvili. Unless, that is, enough hype gets generated for a fight with Talbott. That’s why we expect to see him no-sell the Talbott fight … at least until UFC 333. If Merab Dvalishvili takes the belt back, then we’ll see what “Suga” really thinks of a fight against Payton Talbott.
