Farid Basharat Fires Warning at Payton Talbott While Giving Him a Reality Check

While many in the MMA community believe the UFC was wrong to part ways with the undefeated Farid Basharat, fellow bantamweight contender Payton Talbott doesn’t share the same view.  Earlier today, while reacting to Basharat’s statement, which confirmed the latter's UFC release, Talbott shared his thoughts on X.

Talbott has scored back-to-back wins over former UFC champions Henry Cejudo and Deiveson Figueiredo. Most recently, he knocked out Figueiredo in the first round at UFC 322. Basharat, who had yet to face similarly high-profile names inside the octagon, reacted to Talbott’s win in an X post on Oct. 4. He posted:

"Easy layups. Talbott beat 2 “legends”. Their form going into his fights.. Cejudo 0-3 Figueredo 1-4 🤦‍♂️C’mon"

Check out Farid Basharat's comments below:

Today, the 28-year-old American fighter found the perfect opportunity to respond to Basharat's aforementioned X post. He quipped:

"🫩 6 decisions, bro"

Check out Payton Talbott's reply below:

The back-and-forth continued, with Basharat adding:

"I didn’t have the luxury of fighting three 40-year-olds."

The two continued trading barbs, with Talbott commenting:

"Yeah, sorry man that's a bummer, definitely would have beat them on the score cards too!!"

Farid Basharat Warns Payton Talbott 

The Afghan-born Brit lastly warned Talbott. He quipped:

"You sure kept quiet this whole time. Funny how u start talking once I’m off the roster. I can’t take anyone that’s been 30-26 by a 40-year-old seriously. Keep your mouth shut, boy."

As Basharat noted, Talbott faced Cejudo in the former UFC double champion’s final fight, before which "Triple C" was on a three-fight losing skid. He also knocked out Figueiredo, who is past his prime and has now lost 5 of his last 6 bouts.

Basharat, on the other hand, won all seven of his UFC fights but failed to deliver the kind of highlight-reel knockouts Talbott has produced. That could be a major reason why the UFC brass decided not to offer him a fresh contract after his final bout.

Payton Talbott Wants To Face Another Former UFC Champion Next

After getting his hand raised at UFC 332, Payton Talbott immediately called out former 135-pound titleholder Sean O'Malley. Talbott also alleged that he and "Suga" were supposed to fight on June 14 on the South Lawn of the White House, until O'Malley decided to dodge him.