Farid Basharat is right about Payton Talbott's opponents, and he still walks out of this looking worse than anyone involved. It's the pettiest feud bantamweight has produced in a while, a two-day flare-up on X that ran through roughly October 14 and 15.
Start with the part Basharat has correct. Talbott's last two wins came over Henry Cejudo and Deiveson Figueiredo, both former champions and both a long way from their best. Cejudo, 38, walked in on a three-fight losing run and retired after Talbott beat him. Figueiredo, also 38, had lost five of his last six. Talbott knocked him out in the first round at UFC 332. Back in early October, before he was cut, Basharat called these "easy layups" and posted "Cejudo 0-3 Figueredo 1-4." The man can read a resume.
The grievance has a spine. Talbott's climb has been paved with names that mean more on paper than in the cage.
Then Basharat got cut, and the whole thing curdled. Talbott finally replied on October 15, hours after the release was confirmed, with "6 decisions, bro." Basharat answered, "I didn't have the luxury of fighting three 40-year-olds." Talbott needled him back. Basharat closed it out with the line that sank him: "You sure kept quiet this whole time. Funny how u start talking once I'm off the roster... Keep your mouth shut, boy."
That's a man who needs to be right so badly he can't stand being answered. The timing buries him. He threw the first shot weeks ago, got no response, and then the day his job ended he came back louder. It reads exactly like what the doubters say it is: a fighter out of work, looking for someone to blame who isn't the office that cut him.
Basharat deserves more respect than the dismissals he's getting. He left undefeated at 16-0, 7-0 inside the UFC, ranked around No. 9 at bantamweight, and by his own account holding the longest active win streak in his division. Mocking him as a nobody is cheap. He was never handed the platform Talbott got. An undefeated, top-ten fighter getting shown the door while a prospect gets fed faded champions is a genuine scandal, and that one belongs entirely to Dana White's matchmakers.
Which is the problem with pointing the anger at Talbott. Talbott didn't book those fights. Somebody in the office lined up the old champions, and somebody in the office decided a 16-0 record wasn't worth a new contract. Talbott just showed up and won. Firing your rage at the guy who got the soft draw, instead of the people who decide who draws what, is aiming at the wrong man.
Talbott's "6 decisions, bro" stung because it's true. Six of Basharat's seven UFC wins came on the cards; only one was a finish. He's a grinder who won a lot and thrilled almost no one, which is why a promotion chasing highlights felt comfortable letting him walk. Talbott, for all the cushy matchmaking, has a knockout of Figueiredo on his reel and a 12-1 record. His only loss, to Raoni Barcelos at UFC 311 in January 2025, has been followed by three straight wins.
Basharat had the better argument in his hands and set fire to it. He was right that Talbott's run has been gift-wrapped, and right to be furious about his own release. He was wrong about who to point it at, and "keep your mouth shut, boy" is the sound of a good point losing to a bad temper.
