Payton Talbott ready to retire Henry Cejudo at UFC 323

Henry Cejudo is one of the most decorated combat sports athletes of all time. 

Cejudo is a 2008 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. He went on to the UFC, where he stopped the legendary winning streak of Demetrious Johnson to become the flyweight champion at UFC 227. Then at UFC 238, Cejudo became a double champion, stopping Marlon Moraes to become the bantamweight champion. Cejudo abruptly retired after stopping Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May 2020. We didn't see Cejudo in the Octagon for three years, and he has gone 0-3 since his return.

Earlier this week, Cejudo revealed he's stepping away for good after he takes on Payton Talbott at Saturday's UFC 323, live on DAZN PPV (Canada only). While some are skeptical that Cejudo is being serious, Talbott (10-1, 4-1 UFC) believes Cejudo because he plans on putting a beating on the former 135-pound champion that guarantees a return to fighting isn't in the cards. 

"If he's saying that now, then I'm sure he's being serious," Talbott tells DAZN News. "But I expected it to be his last fight, especially with the way I've been prepping for this. I think the way that we're both going to go at it, I don't know if he's going to want to do another one after this."

There's history between Talbott and Cejudo. Before Cejudo fought current bantamweight kingpin Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298, Talbott helped him train for the fight. 

"He was super generous, actually," Talbott admitted. "He housed me and had me stay with him for a couple of days, and kind of took me under his wing and let me work with a lot of his high-level guys that were working with him at the time, leading up to his fight with Merab. Back then, neither of us thought that we were going to fight each other. He was supposed to retire after that fight, and I was nowhere near the rankings. I think I just had one fight in the UFC at the time, but he saw a lot of potential in me. We had a mutual friend, so he was like, 'Yeah, bring him out'. I'll give him some pointers and give them access to my gym." 

When the UFC announced Cejudo-Talbott for Saturday, there was some shock considering Cejudo's stature in the sport and being ranked tenth in the UFC rankings, and Talbott isn't in the top 15. But Talbott is a rising prospect, and three of his four UFC wins have come via stoppage. Talbott feels Cejudo wanted someone with less risk, and the UFC pushed him towards Talbott because where both are at in this stage of their respective careers.

"I was actually, I don't know what negotiations looked like on his end, but I'm sure there were a lot more favorable people for him to fight, especially to end out his career. I'm sure he would've felt better taking a fight against somebody that was a little bit less dangerous to him, but what better of a way to go out than to go with a bang? 

"I don't think it was either of us calling each other out. I personally was like, ‘I will fight Henry, but if there's anybody else’. I went through countless names before his. I think it was the UFC wanting to push it. And I think it's just one of those things, it's like old gen versus new gen. That always sells, and it's entertaining to watch, and the whole narrative with me and the wrestling, it's just another opportunity to prove that I can hang with all of these guys." 

The stakes at UFC 323 are high for Talbott. The 27-year-old understands the moment that is in front of him and plans on taking full advantage of the opportunity given to him. 

"It would just mean that I belong up there with the highest level athletes as well as future Hall of Famers, and I think it would just solidify the fact that I am amongst the top 10 in the world at my weight class," Talbott exclaimed.