Undefeated MMA Fighter Payton Talbott is Ready

" I had some really close experiences with death, and having the opportunity to have life taken away from me has made me really want to live it. "

TALBOTT

“That's never been a possibility in my mind,” he says. “I don't understand how people do it. It fascinates me that people are able to stay engaged that long with their work if they're not passionate about it. If they're passionate about it, then I get it. I mean, I do work 9 to 5. It's just with all the stuff that I want to do.” That means fighting, skateboarding, cliff jumping, moped riding, being an influencer on social media, going to Burning Man and anything else that comes to his mind on any given day. Frankly, most of those pursuits are dangerous in their own way, but danger doesn’t bother him in the slightest.

for Whatever the UFC—and the World—Throws at Him

In other words, a 9-to-5 is not—and never has been—in the cards.

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HARD WORK

Rick Collup comes from that generation. The owner and head trainer of Reno Academy of Combat, Collup earned his stripes the hard way, fighting in the early part of the millennium when MMA wasn’t even sanctioned in all 50 states, let alone a mainstream phenomenon aired on ESPN. So when a fresh-faced Talbott walked into the gym straight out of high school, Collup, whose résumé includes fights against UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn and Octagon veterans Cal Worsham and Jason Lambert, he had to start getting used to a new world in his beloved sport. “I never had a fight team,” laughs Collup when we catch the OG trainer on the phone. “I had a bunch of people that trained with me, and then I would fly to Florida and fight, or I would fly to Oregon and fight, and I didn't even have corners with me sometimes. So, yes, it’s very, very different. And then there's which managers you pick, how we go about things, who we talk to, sponsorships. There's a lot of new stuff I definitely wasn't used to.” That was a learning process. What Collup didn’t need brushing up on was his ability to spot talent, and he knew Talbott was the real deal immediately. “[Talbott] never gave up and he just kept coming every single day, and he would fight and come the very next day to train,” Collup remembers. “Whether he was hurt or not, he always listened. And just the repetition and the nonstop trying to learn is what I see in people. It sounds a little cocky, but people that listen to me go far, and if I tell someone to do something and they don't do it, it's usually their ego and they don't like to listen and they don't get far. But I think Payton's going to be a superstar in the UFC.” That seems to be the consensus at the moment for a fighter who boasts a perfect 7-0 pro record that includes six finishes before the final horn. Yes, it’s early in his career, and, at the 135-pound bantamweight level, he’s in one of the toughest division in the UFC, but after breaking in his contract in November with a third-round submission of Nick Aguirre, all eyes are on Talbott heading into 2024.

“Honestly, I didn't think much of it from the ages of eight to 12, but as I grew up and I started to see more and more death and more traumatic things and just live my life closer to traumatic experiences through other people than my own, it just reminded me of that call to the void,” Talbott explains. “And that goes back to when I was about to black out and die underwater. It's just that in the blink of an eye, all of that can go to nothing. From that point prior is your whole life. And if you haven't lived it to the best of your ability, it's a regret.” If Talbott has had any regrets for refusing to follow the status quo over the years, he’s not conceding them to us. That goes for life and for his day job as a prizefighter, which is a sport that tends to hold tight to an old-school attitude which states that having interests outside of the ring is a flaw.

Yet as Rocky Balboa famously said, “Nothing hits harder than life.” When Talbott was eight years old, he got tangled in a bunch of lily pads while swimming, nearly drowning until he was rescued. Of the near-death experiences he’s had, he admits, “that was probably the worst one. I got stuck underwater for a really long time and was probably going to die if nobody saved me.” Traumatic for most, Talbott instead took it as a rallying cry to live an uncommon life. At eight. That’s a lot of clarity for someone to have at that age, but if you can believe anyone can, it’s him.

MUCH MORE THAN A FIGHTER

TALBOTT

"I think a lot of fighters that are fighting now want to live the kind of life that I do. They probably do, but they just don't show it because they don't think that it'll make them money or gain attention. I hope that I can inspire more people to do that."

By: Thomas Gerbasi

Images courtesy of Keely Majewski

“I've never been a destination kind of guy,” Talbott says. “I've gotten fixed on achieving certain things, and what I've come to find out is that achieving it is usually the least satisfying part. Every time I get my hand raised in the cage, it's not a letdown, but there's not as much enjoyment as actually being in the fight and putting in all the work. So, I don't know what's going to come after fighting, but I know that I have a lot more to give to the world. This is not my finish line.”

Of course, living with an “all gas, no brakes” attitude comes with a price, and that means Talbott’s life soon won’t be entirely his own. He’s already the subject of a mini-documentary, First Fight, which was directed by Archer Smith through Talbott’s alma mater, the University of Nevada Reno (where the future UFC fighter graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2022), and now that he’s on the biggest platform in his sport, there will be more pulls on his time and inquiries about what makes him tick. “I think the most precious things you have to keep inside you, otherwise you'll lose 'em,” Talbott says. “I enjoy this kind of process and letting people share a part of my life, but the things that are super important to me and that I deeply feel, I’ll always keep to myself unless I really, really vibe with you.”

The attention isn’t just because of his immense fighting talent. To hear Talbott say it, he’s not a unicorn in the UFC but something completely different. “I'd say I feel more like a zebra, honestly,” Talbott laughs. “Just some stripes, kind of in its own world, and apparently zebras don't feel stressed. So, I identify with the zebra. But I do think that I am not only just somebody who's different, but that I am the beginning to how a lot of fighters that are from my generation are going to approach the game. I think a lot of fighters that are fighting now want to live the kind of life that I do. They probably do, but they just don't show it because they don't think that it'll make them money or gain attention. I hope that I can inspire more people to do that.”

Payton Talbott, Zebra

Take one look at Payton Talbott’s Instagram account and the first question that comes to mind as the UFC bantamweight prospect rides a moped while sitting sideways, jumps off cliffs, and performs skateboarding tricks few can do is a simple one: Isn’t there a clause in your contract that prevents you from doing such things? “They threw something in there that was like, ‘You can't do anything to put yourself in harm's way of competing,’ but I'm not going to compromise living my life for it,” Talbott says when we connect for a lengthy holiday season phone interview with the up-and-coming fighter. He quickly adds to his statement, though. “I've been safer. To be fair, I sold my fast street bike and I got a slower one. And I don't skateboard as hard.” That’s life in the big leagues these days for the 25-year-old from Reno, Nevada, who made an immediate impact on the world mixed martial arts scene in August when he defeated Reyes Cortez Jr. on Dana White’s Contender Series, earning a UFC contract in the process. For the uninitiated, the weekly summer series has been a golden ticket for prizefighters since 2017, with an impressive performance in front of the show’s namesake, UFC CEO White, often leading to a contract offer to the premier organization in the sport. And while Talbott had already accumulated plenty of buzz on the regional MMA circuit while compiling a perfect 5-0 record, his looks, charisma and fighting style made him a natural for the UFC as soon as his hand was raised against Cortez Jr. He was in, and though everything seemingly changed on the night of August 8, 2023, for Talbott, it was just another day on a fantastic journey where he’s opting to attack life, as opposed to letting it come to him.

Shot by @jimixjames

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Shot by @jimixjames

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Payton Talbott is one of the most interesting figures in a sport known for them. But he’s not Conor McGregor, Jon Jones or Ronda Rousey. Talbott is truly one of one, and though the tendency is to tell fight fans to enjoy him while he’s here because this is probably just one stop along the way, for now, he’s all-in on enjoying this stop. He would advise you to do the same, with a disclaimer that the best may be yet to come.

Shot by @jimixjames

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“I had some really close experiences with death, and having the opportunity to have life taken away from me has made me really want to live it,” Talbott says. “And the group that I grew up around, my friends, they're all very similar to me and they don't like to live quiet lives, either. So that kind of stuff is just really contagious. If you guys think I'm wild, you should see some of my friends. And my family and I weren't super close growing up, so I kind of had to just create my own fun.” He does offer a warning to those looking to follow his lead, though.