While UFC 311 is, as of this writing, still 48 days away, the card from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA is shaping up quite nicely. MMA‘s top promotion, the UFC, was away from the cage this past weekend in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday inside the United States, yet Dana White‘s organization remained quite busy filling vacant spots on the itinerary for upcoming fight cards.
On Jan. 18, Intuit Dome, the home venue of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, serves as the host venue for the UFC’s first pay-per-view card of 2025. A number of fights have already been confirmed to be taking place, such as a co-main event pitting Jiri Prochazka (30-5-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) against Jamahal Hill (12-2, 1 NC MMA, 6-2, 1 NC UFC).
That fight has high stakes attached to it, with a possible UFC Light Heavyweight Championship fight in the for the winner against current 205-lb. titleholder Alex Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) awaiting at some point later on in 2025. One of the promotion’s newest quasars will be back in action that night, as well.
Payton Talbott Returns Jan. 18 Versus Raoni Barcelos
During the UFC 311 undercard on the third Saturday night in January, bantamweight action takes the stage at Intuit Dome when Payton Talbott (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) makes his 10th career walk to the cage when he squares off against 23-fight veteran Raoni Barcelos (18-5 MMA, 7-4 UFC). As per the terms of the fight contract, the advertised maximum of this contest will be three rounds at five minutes in length.
The UFC made this bantamweight fixture official on social media on Saturday afternoon.
We're just getting started! đ„@PaytonTalbott & @BarcelosRaoni will meet in LA!
[ #UFC311 LIVE on @ESPNPlus PPV | 10pmET ] pic.twitter.com/uWIDMjq1Qm
— UFC (@ufc) November 30, 2024
Talbott Rising Up The Charts at 135
Payton Talbott will enter this UFC 311 preliminary fight having yet to lose thus far in his MMA career. He’s had a fairly active 15 months since making an appearance during the season seven premiere of Dana White’s Contender Series in August of 2023.
That summer night, he bested Reyes Cortez (8-3 MMA, 0-1 DWCS) by way of unanimous decision, en route to securing his promotional contract from Dana White at the end of the program. It was the first time in Talbott’s professional career that the judges’ scorecards came into play for the result of a fight.
Upon making his UFC promotional debut, he has scored three wins in succession, all of which have been recorded inside the distance, including his June 29 fight against Yanis Ghemmouri (12-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) during the late prelims of UFC 303, finishing him in only 19 seconds’ time with a right cross followed by ground and pound.
He’s come a long way in such a short time since trading in his A1 Combat Bantamweight Championship for a deal in the sport’s top organization. Will his rise to the top continue once the calendar reaches the new year?
Barcelos In Search of Second Straight Win
In the other corner, Raoni Barcelos comes into 2025 having posted a mark of 2-3 over his last five fights, but he got his hand raised last time out, besting Cristian Quinonez (18-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC), himself an alumnus of Contender Series, via third-round submission due to rear-naked choke, during the Feb. 24 UFC Fight Night from Mexico City.
The bout was Quinonez’ second loss in a row by rear-naked choke, having previously dropped a contest against 31-fight veteran Kang Hyung Ko (19-11, 1 NC MMA, 8-5, 1 NC UFC) during UFC Vegas 75 in June of 2023. Barcelos hasn’t tasted victory quite often of late.
He hasn’t had a sustained winning streak since he rattled off nine victories in succession from February of 2015 to November of 2020, during which time he took the RFA Featherweight Championship via unanimous decision against Ricky Musgrave (14-5 MMA), defending the title twice over. An appearance in the LFA following Legacy FC merging with the RFA in LFA 4 against Kevin Aguilar (17-5 MMA) in 2017 was scrubbed prior to the show, with Aguilar instead fighting Justin Rader (7-3 MMA) for the LFA Featherweight Championship, winning via unanimous decision.
A victory over an undefeated fighter of Talbott’s ilk would certainly boost his confidence on Jan. 18.
Final Thoughts
Two former champs will go at it in Inglewood during an intriguing affair. Don’t miss it.
