UFC Vegas 89 star Payton Talbott reveals how he wasn’t an MMA fan before the rise of Conor McGregor

Even away from the sport and scope of active participation, Conor McGregor is like a consensus face of MMA. He remains a top-notch name even now despite not having fought continuously. Not just to fight fans but even to peers, the likes of which include rising bantamweight Payton Talbott.

Talbott is a fairly new name to the UFC scene. However, at 8-0 MMA and 2-0 UFC, the undefeated 135lber is making quite a name for himself. At UFC Vegas 89, Payton Talbott managed a round 2 TKO finish of Cameron Saaiman. Moreover, ‘hair-twin combatant’ similar to Sean O’Malley went viral for aspiring toward a title shot against ‘Suga.’ Now, here’s what he said to Ariel Helwani on what got him started in MMA:

I was never a fan of MMA until I started doing it when I was around 18 actually...I didn’t even know what it was until I was sitting in a sushi restaurant and saw Conor McGregor highlights.... I was looking at it and thought, 'There’s no way that’s actually a thing, where people are actually allowed to fight in a cage.' Then I started thinking about it and was like, I’d like to try that, like I’m super bored.

Payton Talbott via The MMA Hour

By his own account, it wasn’t until the cusp of ending his teens that he got into combat sports. That also was inspired by a Conor McGregor fight highlight. After nearly a year of training at the Reno Academy of Combat, the Dana White‘s Contender Series (DWCS) alum scored his big debut in pro-MMA. With five amateur wins and eight pro ones, he is on quite the trajectory.

Like his Dana White’s Contender Series peer and end-goal Sean O’Malley, Talbott highly regards the Irish MMA icon. The current bantamweight king believed he was reaching McGregor-esque levels of stardom in his current run. It would be interesting to see just where else the bantamweights collide in their likings and other spectrums.

Sean O’Malley reasserts aim to rise over Conor McGregor-levels of fandom

Rising fighter Payton Talbott has a lot of commonalities with his divisional king – Sean O’Malley. Talbott’s striking skills at UFC Vegas 89 saw him earning labels of the “real Sean O’Malley.” Attributing to this is also his hairstyle, which mimics the current champ.

However, that is not just where it ends. He got into MMA watching highlight reels of Conor McGregor, who is O’Malley’s endgame, as he is Talbott’s. By age 29, the Irishman was a two-division titleholder and had headlined the biggest 5 PPV buyouts. Currently, UFC listings have him ranked multiple times among top 10 PPV buyouts, making him the undisputable PPV king.

During his media outings in 2023, ‘Suga’ vowed to reach McGregor-levels of stardom by 2024-end. With a brutally loud striking performance at UFC 299, he is well underway. Here’s what Suga said about reaching such levels (a thread):

Despite his neo-fandom being comprised of the TikTok market, the superstar 135lber boasts quite a fanbase. So much so that Merab Dvalishvili aspires to face him jestingly based on his popularity.

Be it for a rookie like Payton Talbott or someone further along the chain, McGregor is the current consensus face of MMA worldwide. Consequently, O’Malley aims to bank on that to kick his legacy into overdrive.

In case you missed it:

• WATCH: “Let’s get the ladies!” Sean O’Malley entertains with hilarious ad for Nelk Boys’ Happy Dad Hard Seltzer
• “Solid self-awareness” – Sean O’Malley’s admission of not being perfect on the mic receives unexpected praise from MMA community

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