UFC analyst believes Payton Talbott has earned Sean O’Malley fight after two big wins

The potential Payton Talbott vs. Sean O'Malley matchup has the whole MMA community pitching for the clash after Talbott's spectacular knockout victory over former UFC champion Deiveson Figueiredo in just 2:09 of the first round at UFC 332 this past Saturday. In the octagon interview, he called out O'Malley.

Now, UFC analyst and former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen has weighed in on the potential showdown and answered whether Talbott should be pushed for the O'Malley clash.

Chael Sonnen makes case for Payton Talbott vs. Sean O’Malley after UFC 332

During a discussion on the after-show of UFC 332, Sonnen was asked whether Talbott deserved the 'Suga' fight next. He revealed that Cejudo had suggested Talbott should face O'Malley before getting a title shot. Sonnen agreed with the idea and believes Talbott has done enough to earn such a high-profile matchup.

“I'm going to give a quote here, I reached out to Henry Cejudo. Now he said, give me your thoughts on this fight. He had a suggestion, he said the future is now, it's Payton Talbott. He then said, give him Sean O'Malley, and then give him a title fight. I think that's as good of a rumor as we can start. I think that he does , it's very interesting,” Sonnen said. 

Sonnen then pointed out that Talbott has already beaten not one, but two former UFC champions. His latest victory over Figueiredo followed his win over Cejudo, giving the 28-year-old a strong argument for fighting another former champion.

“Look, if you just want to look at history, history says if you beat a world champion, you get to fight a world champion. Talbot has now beaten two. I'm adding Henry to this, he's now beaten two world champions.”

Check out Chael Sonnen’s comments below: 

Now, O'Malley has responded to Talbott's callout and has made it clear that it's not his top priority fight. However, the former UFC bantamweight champion has revealed the circumstances under which he would be willing to fight Talbott.

Sean O'Malley reveals when he would fight Payton Talbott

In a recent episode of 'The SuGuru Show,' O'Malley stressed that his next fight will be decided by the bantamweight title fight between champion Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333. 'Suga' believes that if Yan wins, he gets the next title shot, and if Dvalishvili wins, he won't, and he would then be open to facing Talbott.

The former champion also pushed back against the idea that he is avoiding Talbott, pointing to his recent run against some of the division's best fighters.

“If Petr goes out there and loses, let’s squabble, me and Payton, let’s make it happen, If Petr goes out there and wins, I’m ducking for a tougher fight. I’m ducking him for Petr Yan. My last seven fights, I’ve fought four of the greatest bantamweights of all time: Petr, , Merab, and I beat Merab once, so I beat all three of the greatest bantamweights of all time. I ain’t ducking,” O’Malley said. 

Check out Sean O'Malley’s comments below: 

O'Malley has a history with both Yan and Dvalishvili. He lost his title to the Georgian star at UFC 306 and failed to recapture it in the rematch at UFC 316.

He faced Yan back in 2022 in a close contest and secured a split decision victory, which adds an intriguing factor to the potential rematch. That's why O'Malley feels that if the Russian defends his title at UFC 333, he should be next to fight him.

If Dvalishvili wins, fans can surely expect a matchup between two of the bantamweight division's arguably greatest strikers in Talbott and O'Malley.