Payton Talbott brushes off hate from first loss before UFC 317: 'People are just fickle'
LAS VEGAS – Payton Talbott was not caught off guard, at all, by some of the fan reaction to his first professional loss.
Talbott suffered a decision loss to Raoni Barcelos in January at UFC 311. He entered the bout as a huge favorite, and was upset by the 37-year-old veteran in dominant fashion. Talbott got a big wave or criticism, but it faded away as quick as it came.
"People are just fickle, especially online," Talbott said at the UFC 317 media day on Wednesday. "Our memories are like goldfish. It was kind of over with like three weeks after it happened. No, I wasn't surprised."
Talbott (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) returns to the cage this Saturday on the main card of UFC 317 (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), which takes place at T-Mobile Arena. He takes on rising prospect Felipe Lima (14-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC).
Although some of the criticism has died down ahead of his return, the pain of the defeat is very much still present for Talbott. In fact, it fueled this training camp for UFC 317.
"I'm still not over it," Talbott said. "I don't think I ever will be. I took that to heart. It's a loss, yeah. But if the referee is not in there and you're in the street with somebody like that, your life could be ended. It's deep, man. I take that to heart and it's my motivating factor every time I go to the gym."
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