UFC prospect gives in to fraud check strain, right ahead of UFC Vegas 104 prelim flub: “Secrets out guys, huge fraud…”

Fighters under 'hype control' and 'fraud-checked' all the way to UFC Vegas 104? Once-surging Payton Talbott jokes about his own loss in the meantime.

UFC prospect gives in to fraud check strain, right ahead of UFC Vegas 104 prelim flub: “Secrets out guys, huge fraud…”

Payton Talbott gets real and yet quips about own loss before more lineups get 'fraud-checked' (Source: X)

UFC in 2025 has had a weird start. Many prospects and even top contenders lost their big “0”. A lot of debuting fighters also fought hard but could not keep their pre-fight hype. No wonder the MMA clique would be quick to fall on to the ‘fraud-checked’ trend. Even tonight’s UFC Vegas 104 prelims opened with such. Swift striker Payton Talbott is accepting that in strides.

UFC Vegas 101, aka UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Ribas 2, opened up the 2025 calendar; debuting fighters went 3-2. Betting fave propped good but went 9-5 on the card. Debutants went 1-1 on the UFC 311 PPV card and 4-2 at UFC 312. It’s been a mixed bag of expectations since.

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UFC 311 saw one prominent zero removed in a title affair. Payton Talbott’s undefeated surge also ended on the same UFC 311 card in a massive upset. Now, he gave in and quipped about it.

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News flash, I lost…News flash, I’m a loser. Now everyone knows I’m a big fraud. Huge phony, my whole nine wins prior, well 14 if you count amateur, they’re all just, they don’t count. I’m a fraud. Secrets out guys, huge fraud…I will say that I’m very fortunate to see this side of the sport — You go on winning for so long, you only see one side of it so it’s been pretty eye-opening.

Payton Talbott on his Official YT Channel (@paytontalbott)

After a Contender Series and debut win, the Reno Academy of Combat striker defeated Cameron Saaiman and Yanis Ghemmouri in 2024. UFC’s fastest rising stars and breakout story the previous season, Talbott was a -1200 favorite for UFC 311, per BetOnline.AG money odds. However, Raoni Barcelos’ relentless pressure swept past him all the way to a UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) loss. After which, fans did not wait to call-up a fraud-check.

Rei Tsuruya was the latest, losing decisively in a three-round blowout to Joshua Van at UFC 313 PPV. Sam Patterson’s first-round stoppage of Danny Barlow played spoiler to his momentum. The trend goes on; Payton Talbott, 26, now opens up about it. He now stands at a somewhat comfortable 9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC, and has his lofty dreams snapped. Fast forward to tonight, the buck is yet to end with him.

Hype-Checked? Carli Judice smokes Yuneisy Duben with head-kick and merciless ground-and-pound at UFC Vegas 104

Call her Carli Judice or Carli the ‘Judicious’ as she just proved her decision to not stay in the pocket worked right! UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Dolidze 2 Prelims saw her against the electric Yuneisy Duben. However, Judice made quick work of her that would surely get fans to bill it as fraud-checked.

UFC Vegas 104 saw quite the KO demolition and a crushing 'fraud-checked' debut
UFC Vegas 104 saw quite the KO demolition and a crushing ‘fraud-checked’ debut (Source: UFC News (@UFCNews) / X)

Duben entered the scene with a spotlighted KO charm all over her. Her blowout of Shannon Clark at DWCS 70 was something to behold. It even had UFC headman Dana White out of his seat and petrified at the sequence. She was a massive underdog at +450 odds on the money line but punctuated a massive upset!

Matter of fact, it was subsequently one big upset by the numbers. Additionally, Duben was yet again on the low bar for UFC Vegas 104. But this time, she met her skill ceiling! The duo touched them up with opening shots. Judice performed a very technical question mark kick as she had prompted that she wouldn’t stay in her pocket but rather swerve out.

Judice kept pressuring the star into that ‘fraud-check’ zone, tagging her with shots toward the fences. When Duben did come forward, the rival floored her with a massive left kick to the noggin and followed up with some fists! She defeated the surging debutant via a TKO stoppage (head kick) – Round 1, around 1:40 mark.

Related: 5 reasons underdog Mackenzie Dern can surprise Amanda Ribas in rematch