UFC 311 wasn’t the ideal date for Merab Dvalishvili to return to action. But he doesn’t expect it to be affected. Dvalishvili defends his new UFC 135-pound strap at the PPV main card feature co-headliner this Saturday. There is a lot of skill-to-skill test anticipation going into this weekend. But Dvalishvili pressing Payton Talbott wasn’t on anybody’s UFC PPV bingo card!
Highly touted rising star Talbott (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is prepping for a PPV prelim bantamweight bout at UFC 311, vs. Raoni Barcelos. The Reno Academy of Combat fighter called Mean “Machine” ‘dumber than a box of rocks’ in an interview with ESPN before UFC 303. Dvalishvili had some downtime and took notice.
[…] Next time don’t talk trash about me, …You said I’m dumb, remember?
Merab Dvalishvili during a Fight Week meetup
A four-month turnaround since his UFC 306 PPV be damned; Dvalishvili wasn’t going to let this slide. But on a lighter note, others might have had far more reason to retaliate. Per Talbott’s quickfire round, he called Olympian Henry Cejudo “The Cringe King”, Jose Aldo as “Mr. Potato Head”, and Petr Yan as the most unlikely Dagestan Dynasty ally!
🤝Merab Dvalishvili and Payton Talbott crossed paths during fight week before UFC 311:
“Next time don’t talk trash about me.”
🎥 @MerabDvalishvil ▫️ pic.twitter.com/3K4s8P3HId
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) January 16, 2025
During fight week, Dvalishvili met up with the young buck, and the two seemingly squashed their beef. Talbott even wished good luck to the Georgian on his maiden defense at UFC 311. A good thing, given that Dvalishvili has that rabid, overcharged sprite attitude that made the young bantamweight star comment on this. Ironically, at some other time, the duo could have chopped it up better, as Talbott is also very lively.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater: The Talbott Saga 2024
Much like Israel Adesanya and Sean O’Malley before him, Payton Talbott is conceivably different from others. That is if one holds septum piercings, pole dance antics, and frilly-willy hair different. It didn’t stop the “Suga” show for a striking clinic worthy of the Best ESPY. It didn’t stop kickboxer Izzy from a historic reign. With the sure potential to crack the top-15 listings, Talbott means to be the same.
Payton Talbott met a legend during his last UFC outing (Source: X)Talbott is eyeing a great run post-UC 311. But that doesn’t mean the hardworking young buck cannot enjoy life and get into overdrive. Right before UFC 303, he broke free from camp and was able to dap it up with his icon, Tony Hawk!
Chopped it up with the legendary @TonyHawk 🛹
Skating is one of @PaytonTalbott‘s many talents!
Watch Talbott this weekend on #UFC311! pic.twitter.com/lMYOVv6qPM
— UFC (@ufc) January 15, 2025
Some have considered his demeanor as easygoing or uninterested. But that’s far from true. Talbott has been gunning for gold for a while now; the results speak for themselves.
In just three UFC fights, Dana White’s Contender Series alum Talbott has been on the rise. He is coming off back-to-back POTN knockouts: one of Cameron Saaiman and, most recently, Yanis Ghemmouri, in just 19 seconds at UFC 303 in June. Come this weekend, he’d like to keep the strain going.
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