Payton Talbott vs. Sean O'Malley is the fight to make at bantamweight
After UFC 332, Payton Talbott should be done with over-the-hill veterans, and Sean O'Malley, who he called out, should be his next opponent.
A Payton Talbott vs. Sean O'Malley matchup has already drawn tremendous hype. No other bantamweight fight, besides Petr Yan's upcoming title defense against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333, has more fan interest. If the UFC hasn't completely lost its business sense, it should strike while the iron is hot and book the bout.
The value in Payton Talbott vs. Sean O'Malley
At UFC 332, Payton Talbott demolished a washed up Deiveson Figueiredo in round one, TKO'ing him within two minutes. Afterward, he called out another ex-UFC champion in Sean O'Malley in his post-fight interview. The bout was already rumored, with O'Malley hitting back at accusations that he ducked Talbott. There's already a built-in storyline, that 'Suga' either wants undeserved title shots or stylistically easier matchups like Aiemann Zahabi, who he TKO'd in round two at UFC Freedom 250. The UFC could, if it saw fit to do so, hype Talbott up as a next generation fighter, a star, who has already defeated the greats of yesteryear like Henry Cejudo and, of course, Figueiredo, and is now gunning for the best that today can offer in O'Malley.
Both men are on win streaks, with O'Malley having beaten Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250, and surging power-puncher Song Yadong, over whom he scored a unanimous decision at UFC 324. Unfortunately for him, it's not enough to earn a title shot. If Merab Dvalishvili beats Petr Yan in their title rematch at UFC 333, then a title shot should be completely off the table for O'Malley, who has two back-to-back title losses to Dvalishvili, with their UFC 316 clash being one of the most undeserved title shots in UFC history. Even if Yan beats Dvalishvili again at UFC 333, O'Malley, who has a contentious split-decision win over Yan from UFC 280, should not be given a title shot. Not over a fighter many feel he robbed. He'll need one more win, and that win could come over Talbott.
While O'Malley is on a two-fight win streak, Talbott is on a three-fight purple patch that began at UFC 317, when he defeated Felipe Lima via unanimous decision. He followed that up with another unanimous decision win at UFC 323, beating the legendary Cejudo, before annihilating Figueiredo at UFC 332. A Talbott vs. O'Malley bout can be billed as a title eliminator, guaranteeing the winner a crack at whoever emerges as bantamweight champion from the UFC 333 co-main event. Furthermore, it would be such a high-profile fight that it could easily serve as the co-main event of a numbered event in need of star power, or the headliner of a Fight Night card.
And the time to book it is now.
