Coach Tim Welch knows Sean O'Malley vs. Payton Talbott would be a great fight – but the UFC title comes first.
Talbott (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) called out former UFC bantamweight champion O'Malley (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) after a dominant first-round TKO of Deiveson Figueiredo (25-8-1 MMA, 14-8-1 UFC) in the UFC 332 co-main event at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
O'Malley is waiting to see who wins the upcoming bantamweight title-fight trilogy between champion Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333 on Oct. 24, which could dictate his future. That's because, if Yan wins, Welch knows O'Malley likely gets a title shot since he holds a win over the Russian at UFC 280.
"Henry Cejudo is saying that no one wants to fight Payton Talbott, and I wonder how true
that is because I guarantee you Marcus (McGhee) would fight Payton Talbott," Welch said on his YouTube channel. "I guarantee it. He'd be licking his chops for that fight. ... I mean, Oct. 24, we're going to find out. We're going to find out because if Petr loses, dude, 'Suga' vs. Payton Talbott is a sick, sick f*cking fight, dude.
"Because Payton, the way he fakes his uppercuts, the way he stutters into his jab, stutters into his one-two, it's almost like he fights just like 'Suga.' Just a titch slower. Just a titch slower, and he comes out and he pressures people, and I just want that fight to happen one day. But I swear on my my father's life, that fight wasn't offered to us."
Welch isn't necessarily saying Talbott is lying, but he takes umbrage with the likes of Daniel Cormier pushing for the fight.
"You know what I was thinking? I was like, you know what? The UFC could have contacted Payton Talbott, said, 'Hey, we're thinking about something, possibility for the White House. We could think about you and Sean,'" Welch said. "And he probably got hyped, but they never came to us with that name, not once. ... DC's like, 'No, forget that. Forget that, Sean. You're fighting Payton Talbott next.'
"I think one of the commentators said, I think Sean's waiting for the title shot. 'No, that's not happening. Come on, now. Don't be waiting for a title shot, you fight Payton Talbott,' who hasn't been ranked. And it's like, DC, do you remember back when you were fighting for the title, the pay difference? How much more you'd get paid fighting for the title, the world championship, compared to fighting a No. 11 ranked guy now? I wonder if he remembers that."
All in all, Welch praised Talbott's performance against Figueiredo.
"It makes the division sweet, and I am a fan of Payton Talbott," Welch said. "His f*cking style is sick. He's upright, he's on the balls of his feet, he punches people at the end of his punches, he's really tricky and composed, and I think that loss to Barcelos made him level up big time. I think he really leveled up. His wrestling, I don't think is his greatest attribute, but he was taking down Henry like it was no problem at all."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Tim Welch wants Sean O'Malley to fight Payton Talbott – but priorities come first
