It wasn’t all that long ago that Reno’s Payton Talbott didn’t think to highly of MMA. While he’s riding a 10-fight win streak into a Contender Series showdown with a UFC contract on the line, he not only didn’t know this was his career path, but he wasn’t even the slightest interested in it. Then, something changed his outlook.
“I didn’t know I wanted to do [MMA]. I used to watch UFC events or hear of them and just think it was super barbaric and lame,” Talbott explained. “But I watched some highlights of Conor McGregor knockouts and I just needed an outlet in life, so I went to the nearest gym.”
After heading to the nearest gym, the Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat bantamweight champ knew this was the sport for him. However, having come from a wrestling background, it wasn’t the grappling arts that appealed to him. Instead of falling back on what he was familiar with, he jumped with two feet into being an entertainer.
“I took a class and we sparred on the first day and I just fell in love with it,” he shared. “I feel like everything clicked for me in MMA, but striking is just more exciting. Nobody wants to see you hold on to a guy for a whole round. Nobody wants to see you wrestle unless you’re throwing someone.”
That desire to be entertaining and to use the hands stems from those first McGregor highlights that Talbott saw. However, since then, he’s found inspiration in so many talented strikers, including some outside of the realm of mixed martial arts.
“I’d like to say I’ve taken and borrowed a lot of things from fighters that are very successful. Conor Mcgregor is one of them, just with his confidence, his manifestation, and the fact that he likes to make his fights exciting,” “I think I’m also borrowed from boxers like Lomachenko, also Max Holloway, Israel Adesanya.”
If he’s looking to put of a show, he’s in the right place. Talbott will look to impress Dana White on week 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series this Tuesday. He’ll face Reyes Cortez on ESPN+.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 36:10.
