UFC debutant Payton Talbott talks about wild benefits of pole dancing and why he wants opponent Nick Aguirre to unblock him on social media
At UFC Vegas 82, Dana White's Contender Series breakout star Payton Talbott passed his UFC debut with flying colors as he defeated Nick Aguirre via third-round submission.
The 25-year-old's post-fight press conference was an eventful one, with revelations about his unorthodox training practices and a heartfelt request for his opponent.
During the presser, he revealed that he occasionally does pole dancing to aid his conditioning:
"Yeah, I do that [pole dancing] on and off when I'm healthy. It's pretty hard to do that within a camp because your body is super tired, but I do that as well as gymnastics type of stuff. I'm trying to get good at the pommel horse, but I think everything translates when you do pull; it gets you insanely good core strength. That's why you guys see my abs out there."
Furthermore, during the media event, the 25-year-old requested his opponent to unblock him on social media now that their fight was over:
"Like [at the] beginning of the camp, he just blocked me on Instagram... Now since the beef is squashed, like if you could unblock me that would be great. Maybe we could be friends. [He] seems like a cool dude."
Catch Payton Talbott's comments below (3:30 & 5:15):
With his successful UFC debut, Payton Talbott has extended his record to 7-0. Before getting his ticket to the big leagues, Talbott used to fight for promotions like FirePower Promotions MMA and Urijah Faber's A1 Combat.
Payton Talbott names his dream UFC fight
Payton Talbott is one of the best breakout bantamweight prospects of 2023. While he secured a UFC contract at just 24 years of age, the American is in no rush to get his hands on the championship belt.
During his media interaction after being awarded the UFC contract, Payton stated that he is more focused on sharpening his skillset and putting on good fights than being the best fighter in the world.
That doesn't mean he has low aspirations. In fact, reigning bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley is Talbott's dream fight. Speaking about a potential showdown against 'Sugar,' he said:
"I'd really like to fight Sean O'Malley because everybody compares me to him, and it drives me crazy... If I have a year or two to climb up to those ranks, I see myself doing really well against him."
Catch Payton Talbott's comments below (2:50):