UFC 303 fighter talks missing out on Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka because of bizarre rule: "They kick you out"
Recently, a UFC fighter opened up about missing out on UFC 303 due to an odd rule, which featured Jiri Prochazka challenging Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title in the main event. The pay-per-view event was held this past Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The fighter in question is bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott, who squared off against Yanis Ghemmouri in the preliminary card of UFC 303. The undefeated fighter currently holds a professional record of 9-0 and is on a three-fight winning streak.
Talbott entered the fight with a second-round knockout win against Cameron Saaiman at UFC Vegas 89. Meanwhile, Ghemmouri was coming off a third-round knockout loss against William Gomis at UFC Fight Night 226.
Talbott made short work of Ghemmouri, as he knocked out the Frenchman within 19 seconds to mark his third victory in the promotion. But unfortunately, he was left out of the following action inside the octagon.
In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Talbott shared the above-mentioned incident. According to the 25-year-old, once fighters have completed their media commitments, someone from UFC personnel requests that they exit the premises.
“They kick you out.They were like, ‘Do you have a ticket?’ I was like, ‘I just fought.’ They’re like, ‘No exceptions, man.’ Are you joking? They wouldn’t let me back in.''
Then Helwani brought up the fact that the UFC used to host its fighters in VIP areas where they could partake in food and entertainment. Talbott clarified that this was no longer the situation and that he was taken outside without having time to take a shower.
''They got rid of [the VIP room] with COVID. As soon as you’re done with your media, you’re out. No [shower], I took one when I got [back to the Airbnb]. I didn’t even know there were showers there.”
Check out Payton Talbott's comments below:
Payton Talbott wants Adrian Yanez following UFC 303
After Payton Talbott defeated Yanis Ghemmouri at UFC 303, he spoke to Joe Rogan in the octagon interview and called out Adrian Yanez for his next fight.
In the post-fight press conference, when asked about the reason for calling out Yanez, the 25-year-old said:
''I just think that's a dog fight. I think it's a tough fight and we would put on a really good show and it would just be fireworks so I'm all for it.''
Check out Payton Talbott's comments below (1:11):