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INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Payton Talbott might have thought about being ranked in the top five one day, but this probably wasn’t it.
Talbott (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) suffered the biggest upset loss in UFC history on Saturday when he was dominated by Raoni Barcelos (19-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) and received a unanimous decision to retire the preliminary card at UFC 311 at Intuit Dome.
Talbott was undefeated entering the fight at bantamweight and was a betting favorite at around -1150 in this fight. The surprises above him in the pecking order: Holly Holm over Ronda Rousey (-1600), Shana Dobson over Mariya Agapova (-1400) and Matt Serra over Georges St-Pierre (-1200).
But the way Barcelos sees it, Talbott’s chances should never have been that high to begin with. The whole thing hurt him.
“Actually, that really motivated me,” Barcelos said after his win. “It really pushed me because I have such a long history in the sport. I’ve done so much in the sport that people might not even realize, and you’re just so disrespectful (of those opportunities). That really impressed me.” It’s harder to achieve that, including things I wouldn’t normally do, because I wanted to prove to everyone that these odds are just completely crazy. You just completely overlooked me. and most of all for myself, that I am here, that I can do this. The chances were unrealistic.
Barcelos came to the UFC in 2018 after being RFA’s featherweight champion. He won his first five fights in the promotion, including when he moved to bantamweight. But then he endured a difficult streak of four losses in five fights – including a knockout loss two years ago to UFC 311 title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov.
But now the Brazilian has rattled off two wins in a row – a submission victory away in Mexico and the monumental upset over Talbott on Saturday.
“Throughout camp it was hard to see how many people didn’t believe in me. A lot of people said a lot of things online,” Barcelos said. “But I knew I could do it. He’s got great standup and has a lot of knockouts under his belt, so there’s no reason for me to stand by his side. I can wrestle well. I had to go in and defeat him and control him, and that’s exactly what I did.
For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie’s UFC 311 event hub.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: “Unrealistic” chances against Raoni Barcelos were the deciding factor in Payton Talbott’s massive upset
