The largest betting favorite on the entire UFC 311 card failed to record a victory thanks to Raoni Barcelos’ relentless pressure.
In the final preliminary bout at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., Barcelos (19-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) refused to allow the previously undefeated Talbott (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) to get comfortable. After 15 minutes, Barcelos earned unanimous scores (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) to hand Talbott the first loss of his professional career.
Right out of the gate, Barcelos rushed across the octagon to grab a single leg and take the fight to the canvas. Talbott remained calm and worked his way back up after threatening a guillotine. Barcelos didn’t give up, though.
Barcelos found an opening for a rear-naked choke after taking Talbott’s back. Despite getting in two deep choke attempts, Talbott escaped. An arm triangle couldn’t get the job done either, but his dominant grappling throughout the round appeared 10-8 worthy.
At the beginning of Round 2, Talbott had a little breathing room, but Barcelos still found a takedown within the first minute. Talbott got off his back and started to let his hands go behind heavy forward pressure, but Barcelos scored a takedown with 40 seconds to go to slow the momentum.
After listening intently to his corner between rounds, Talbott came out with effective striking, and initiated his own takedown. Barcelos grabbed the fence during an omoplata attempt, causing a brief pause in the action. After the restart, they returned to their feet and started lighting each other up until Barcelos decided it was time to return the fight to the mat.
Running down the clock while raining down ground and pound shots, the fight would conclude on the mat, and so would Talbott’s unblemished record.
WHAT A NIGHT FOR @BarcelosRaoni! 👏
He gets the UD to close out the prelims! 🫡 #UFC311 pic.twitter.com/xxqiazozQ7
— UFC (@ufc) January 19, 2025
Barcelos, 37, has now won back-to-back fights, and played the role of spoiler perfectly.
On the other side, Talbott, 26, who entered as the largest betting favorite on the card at -1600, walks away with a tough lesson in his fourth UFC appearance.
Talbott leaves the Octagon after his first career loss. #UFC311 pic.twitter.com/U7wZFRrEcm
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 19, 2025
Up-to-the-minute UFC 311 results include:
- Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Azamat Bekoev def. Zach Reese via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:04
- Bogdan Guskov def. Billy Elekana via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:33
- Grant Dawson def. Diego Ferreira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Muin Gafurov def. Rinya Nakamura via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Bernardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Tagir Ulanbekov def. Clayton Carpenter via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.
