After suffering his first loss in shocking fashion this past January, Payton Talbott showed an improved game in all areas and is now back in the win column, defeating Felipe Lima to open up the main pay-per-view card for UFC 317.

Talbott looked to bring the pressure early, but Lima answered by touching him up in the opening stages. Lima then looked to get Talbott against the fence and ended up in a clinch battle before securing a pair of takedowns on Talbott. On the second, however, Talbott rolled through and ended up on a top, landing some strong ground-and-pound before Lima got back to his feet. Back on the ground, Lima got to Talbott's back, though Talbott was able to get back to his feet.

Lima looked to put his power on display in the third, catching Talbott with some of his strikes. Talbott looked to walk him down, but Lima would score one more takedown. He'd try to hold Talbott there, but Talbott was able to return to his feet and get out of his grasp. Talbott got the upper hand with strikes again before stopping another takedown attempt and working his way into mount. Lima tried to escape out the back, though Talbott continued to land ground-and-pound, hurting Lima with a right hand in the closing seconds.

Talbott won the fight 29-28 on all three judges' scorecards.

Payton Talbott Shows Improvements In Decision Win Over Felipe Lima

Talbott, who made his UFC debut in late 2023 after an appearance on Dana White's Contender Series, scored wins over Nick Aguirre, Cameron Saaiman, and Yanis Ghemmouri before a loss to Raoni Barcelos at UFC 311.

This is Lima's first loss since dropping his professional MMA debut in 2015, snapping a 14-fight win streak. Lima had won his first two UFC fights last year, submitting Muhammad Naimov and scoring a decision over Miles Johns.