Payton Talbott details layoff reinvention

Payton Talbott will return to action at UFC 332 after nearly one year away from competition, meeting former UFC Flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo in the event’s co-main event. The bout is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Talbott, 28, has not competed since last December, when he defeated former two-division champion Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision. The time away did not come from a decision to stop preparing. Talbott said he continued training throughout the year and used the period to reassess how he wants to develop.

That distinction frames Talbott’s comments ahead of UFC 332. He said he wanted to compete and remained ready, but did not receive the call he had been awaiting. Talbott also revealed that he was offered a matchup with Sean O’Malley for UFC’s White House card in June, though that fight never materialized. Instead of presenting the layoff as empty time, Talbott described it as a period in which he kept working while reconsidering the balance between new ideas and the qualities that initially carried him forward. His return against Figueiredo now gives that approach a competitive setting after a lengthy absence from the Octagon.

Talbott says training never stopped

Talbott’s central message was that his preparation continued despite the absence of a fight. “It’s kind of weird because this is still so new to me, but I just stayed training,” Talbott said. “I stayed ready and trained pretty much the entire year, and I feel like I kind of reinvented myself. I went back to my roots — went inward.” The comment does not describe a single new technique or a specific change in camp. Instead, it identifies a broader process: staying active in training while looking inward during a period when he was unable to compete. That makes the UFC 332 appearance more than a return date. It is Talbott’s first opportunity since December to show how he applies the work he says he did while waiting.

Talbott further explained that development in MMA can bring an influx of techniques and viewpoints. “You pick up all of these techniques as you develop in the sport,” he said. “You go out of town and pick people’s brains.” But Talbott also stressed that gathering knowledge is not the same as allowing outside ideas to replace a fighter’s own strengths. In his view, the work is learning how to add what is useful without losing the reasons he succeeded in the first place. That explanation gives a clearer meaning to his reference to returning to his roots: it is not a rejection of learning, but an effort to incorporate lessons in a way that still fits his own game. The matchup with Figueiredo is the next confirmed stage of that process.

A return shaped by recent context

Talbott enters UFC 332 following the unanimous-decision victory over Cejudo, his most recent appearance. The account of his time away also includes a proposed O’Malley matchup that never came together, leaving Talbott without the competition he wanted during the year. His comments focus on readiness rather than a complaint about inactivity. He said he remained in training and used the available time for self-reflection. Figueiredo, identified as a former UFC Flyweight champion, will be across from him when Talbott returns in Salt Lake City. The fight offers a direct test of whether Talbott’s stated effort to preserve his core strengths while adding to his game is visible in competition.

• Talbott last competed in December, defeating Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision.
• Talbott said he trained through the year and tried to blend new techniques with the strengths that helped him reach this point.

Payton Talbott’s UFC 332 return carries the context of a long wait, continued training and a deliberate attempt to refine rather than replace his approach. After last appearing in December against Cejudo, Talbott will face Figueiredo with his own description of reinvention now attached to the next chapter of his run.