Payton Talbott made his statement at UFC 332 when he became the first to stop former champion Deiveson Figueiredo with strikes.
Talbott (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) needed just over two minutes to put the hurt on Figueiredo (25-8-1 MMA, 14-8-1 UFC) and rack up the TKO win on Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, and he is now poised to make a significant move at bantamweight.
It's a tough division to crack in terms of reaching the championship level, but Talbott is seemingly equipped for an expedited rise that only few are fortunate enough to receive. He has back-to-back wins over ex-titleholders in Figueiredo and Henry Cejudo, which is a win for his resume no matter what stage they were at in their careers.
Will he get his desired matchup with Sean
O'Malley? Perhaps – if a few things break his way. And it would likely come under protest from O'Malley (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC). It's in play, though, especially if Merab Dvalishvili regains the 135-pound title from Petr Yan at UFC 333 later this month.
If Yan holds serve in the upcoming trilogy bout, however, then O'Malley has a strong chance at a title shot, leaving Talbott to look in another direction. He even acknowledged that scenario post-fight, and there are plenty of fun pairings for him that would still represent a step up.
Names like Cory Sandhagen, Umar Nurmagomedov and Mario Bautista come to mind as candidates, all of whom should arguably be favored over Talbott. Any of those names would be the biggest win of Talbott's career by a long shot, and it's the type of test we should all want to see the 28-year-old take on next.
The entire structure of the bantamweight division revolves around the fallout of UFC 333 and what happens when Yan and Dvalishvili meet again Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Sean Shelby's Shoes: What's next for Payton Talbott after UFC 332 win?
