Henry Cejudo 'really surprised' UFC decided to match up Payton Talbott with Felipe Lima

USA Today

14 hours ago

Henry Cejudo sees Felipe Lima as a stern test for Payton Talbott's bounce-back fight.
Talbott (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will look to rebound from his first-career loss when he takes on the streaking Lima (14-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 317 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) main card opener at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Talbott said during Wednesday's media day that he didn't think the UFC originally wanted to match him up with Lima, as he only got news of his opponent less than three weeks ago. Cejudo admits he didn't expect Lima for Talbott next.
"People are very high on Lima," Cejudo said on his "Pound 4 Pound" podcast with Kamaru Usman. "He's only lost his debut. He's been on a 14-fight win streak since losing. I'm really surprised the UFC is actually putting this matchup together. Payton Talbott at one point was the hottest prospect at 135 pounds because he's just different – he's got the hair, he's got the whole circle (tattoo), he's finishing people. But then his last fight, it just took a turn. It took a turn for the worse, and he ended up getting pretty much dominated by (Raoni) Barcelos. I think a lot of people are seeing that a little bit different."
Talbott is a slight underdog against Lima, which Cejudo finds surprising – especially with how Talbott was running through people before losing to Raoni Barcelos.
"It was a lot of what happened to 'Robocop' (Gregory Rodrigues) somewhat happened to Talbott, but I just feel like people are really sleeping on Payton," Cejudo continued. "The only reason why I say that is because he is the underdog with Felipe. That's something to be said. How do you go from being the biggest prospect, and now they're giving you a matchup where you're not the favorite?"