Payton Talbott won the biggest fight of his career at UFC 323 with a cool, confident decision over Henry Cejudo, propelling him further into the bantamweight spotlight. But as the rankings shifted and he proved his worth yet again, a completely different conversation took over the internet. It was not about skill, title shots, or trash talk. It was about a streamer, a threat of a lawsuit, and a fighter who wanted no part of it.

What made it stranger was how quickly everything spiraled out of control. From answering post-fight questions, the 27-year-old now finds himself accused of sending an explicit photo to Adin Ross, dodging a $50,000 “bounty,” and shrugging off a stream appearance that millions expected him to accept. And now, Talbott is pushing in, sparking a feud no one saw coming and refusing to budge.

Why Payton Talbott wants nothing to do with Adin Ross

When Talbott eventually addressed the issue on The MMA Hour, it became clear that the problem wasn’t the lawsuit threat, the bounty, or even the infamous photo; it was the culture that fueled it. “I recently saw that he put an f—— bounty on my head… then he said he’s gonna sue me,” Talbott told Ariel Helwani. “I’m sure he’s joking or whatever. Like, see, that’s my point, man.”

To Payton Talbott, the entire situation perfectly exemplified why he rejected Ross in the first place. “It’s just… The one thing you can do to maintain relevance is put an f—— bounty on my head,” he explained. “That is why I said no. It’s like that.” The Nevada native wasn’t offended; he just did not want to play the game.

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The fighter sees everything as parasitic: viral antics, manufactured shock value, and a dependence on drama over substance. “That’s why I have a gripe with streaming culture,” he continued. “It’s vampirey. It’s leachy. It’s sucky.” Adin Ross, for his part, has already stated that he intends to sue Talbott “for sending me your p—- without asking.”

He also promised to pay $50,000 to any UFC bantamweight who can knock Payton Talbott out. But the 27-year-old isn’t scared. If anything, he reinforced his reluctance by confessing that sending the photo was intentional. “Any famous person that reaches out to me like that, I’d usually hit them with something like that,” he told Nina Drama before UFC 323. “Hit them with the b—-, yeah.”

That’s the irony of the entire feud: Ross kept escalating, chasing a viral reaction, while Talbott refused to give him the one he really wanted. In the end, Payton Talbott walked away from UFC 323 with the biggest win of his career, a rising stock, and an even firmer stand: no streams, gimmicks, or clout chasing. Not for $50,000, not for a legal threat, and certainly not for Adin Ross. However, it is worth noting that this is not his first explicit controversy.

Talbott’s strangest video which first sparked controversy

Long before Ross entered the scene, Payton Talbott had already been through one strange internet scandal—one he never asked for. Long before UFC 323, a video of a man vaping with his buttocks went viral online. Fans insisted it was Talbott; thus, the word spread, and the fighter remained silent long enough for the joke to take on a life of its own.

But as things got too buzzy even for him, he shut it down. “The vape video is not me,” he revealed in 2024. “It’s getting kinda out of hand.” It was a rare occasion when Talbott addressed the noise head-on, and even then, he decided to keep it short. No explanations. No engagement. No attempts to ride the tide of attention. Just a clear denial and a step back. And this leads us back to the Adin Ross drama.

Payton Talbott has previously experienced what happens when the internet decides he is a character in someone else’s story. He doesn’t want to play along again. If he’s going to go viral, he wants it to come from something he can control, like the way he fights, rather than someone attempting to meme him into importance. And at UFC 323, he did just that, delivering a performance against Henry Cejudo that makes the noise outside the cage look insignificant.