Rising UFC bantamweight contender Payton Talbott didn’t just get a fight with Henry Cejudo, he got career-shaping advice from the Olympic gold medalist long before they knew they would ever share the cage.
Talbott will face former UFC two-division champion Cejudo this Saturday at UFC 323, in what Cejudo insists will be his final walk to the Octagon. With a decorated career behind him and one last moment ahead, Cejudo wants to close the chapter with a victory after failing to get a win since ending his first retirement.
Months before they were matched up, Cejudo briefly mentored Talbott, giving him guidance the rising star says shifted the entire course of his mindset and preparation.
In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Talbott opened up about the friendship he built with the man he now has to beat.
“He gave me a lot of career-changing advice, tried to mentor me quite a bit because he was supposed to retire after [the Merab Dvalishvili fight],” Talbott said. “So we knew we weren’t going to fight each other, and here we are!”
“He gave me a lot of [advice]. Without getting too specific, how to structure your camp to mimic competition, in terms of mentality and what the body can take,” Talbott continued. “Just how important it is to have security outside of fighting; which I always knew, but he always had his whole life based around long-term security, financial security. He seemed to be very, very adamant about it.”
“It takes somebody telling you that and seeing it, to really know,” he added. “And now I’m in a position where he was trying to do right by me, and he was right!”
Cejudo’s most recent win came against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. Talbott, meanwhile, is riding momentum after defeating Felipe Lima at UFC 317, further cementing his status as one of the division’s fastest-rising names.
Talbott admits he didn’t expect the UFC to pair him with Cejudo, but turning down that opportunity was never on the table.
“We kind of know each other,” Talbott told MMA Fighting. “We’re pretty familiar, so it would take a lot to like really surprise me, I think, and I think he knows that.”
Cejudo enters UFC 323, making his fourth appearance since ending his first retirement. He previously dropped decisions to Aljamain Sterling, Merab Dvalishvili, and Song Yadong. It was before the Dvalishvili fight that the mentorship with Talbott began, and the words Cejudo shared have stayed with him ever since.
“We hung out together for a couple days straight,” Talbott said. “He gave me a lot of like career-changing advice… we were never going to fight each other, and here we are.”
According to Talbott, the most powerful takeaway was the reminder that MMA doesn’t last forever, but the consequences of poor financial planning do.
“He was very, very adamant about like, ‘You have no idea what’s going to come later on in life. You always need to make sure you’re good financially because everyone will try to f*ck you.’”
Talbott entered the UFC as a hot prospect out of Dana White’s Contender Series, finishing his first three opponents before taking his first career loss earlier this year. He bounced back with a strong win, and when ranked opponents turned him down, Cejudo stepped in.
Now Talbott gets the biggest test of his career and the chance to retire a legend.
“I think it’s amazing, [and] that’s a big reason of why I took this fight,” Talbott said. “You’re not really gonna get an opportunity like this again… I want to see what I can do in there.”
“It’s an honor [to be his final opponent],” he added. “He’s going to show up in that fight unlike how he’s ever shown up before… I’m all about ringing them like a wet rag and getting every last drop out.”
UFC 323 isn’t just another fight, it’s a passing of the torch and Talbott is ready to grab it with both hands.
