Blood
UFC Vegas 82 – New Blood: Last-minute Myktybek
Nov
UFC’s return to the APEX has taken some late hits, canning one newcomer’s UFC debut and opening the door for another to make a sub-month turnaround. On this edition of “New Blood,” the series where I am more victimized by the injury bug than that stricken fighters themselves, we check out three Contender Series graduates and another top prospect from Team Alpha Male.
As always, all episodes from the most recent Contender Series season are on ESPN+.
Payton Talbott
Weight Class: Bantamweight
Age: 25
Record: 6-0 (5 KO)
Notable Victories: Reyes Cortez, Cristhian Rivas
Talbott went 5-0 with five finishes as an amateur before turning pro in 2021. After winning and twice defending the A1 Combat Bantamweight title, he punched his ticket to the Octagon by outstriking Reyes Cortez on the Contender Series.
Nonstop volume punching is Talbott’s claim to fame. Though he can take the better part of a round to get into gear, he’s in constant forward motion from bell to bell, firing slick punching combinations punctuated by let and body kicks. There’s a very freestyle air to the way he throws punches; he’ll double up with the same hand, switch stances mid-combo, and mix his head and body shots into an unpredictable and never-ending onslaught.
He does have a few favored techniques, though. He’s very fond of uppercuts, both on the counter and as a follow-up after a dipping lead straight, and consistently fires knees whenever his opponents change levels.
Talbott’s Achilles heel is range management. He consistently keeps his chin up and his hands low in the classic slickster style, but insists on throwing all his shots from inside his opponent’s punching distance. Both Cortez and Cristhian Rivas consistently cracked him with overhands when Talbott stepped in, and though his durability and attrition eventually let him take over, it’s not a sustainable approach. He needs to do a better job of not exploding in with his strikes; he’s super tall for the division at 5’10” and will outrange most of his opponents, so there’s no reason to keep putting himself in the danger zone.
That habit also contributes to some grappling issues. While he’s nightmarishly difficult to hold down, it’s extremely easy to get in on his hips and at the very least haul him to the fence. Poor distance management, a square stance, and a tendency to jump deep into the pocket is an awful combination of weaknesses when trying to stop incoming takedowns.
Talbott has a lot of potential and can already beat a number of UFC Bantamweights through sheer attrition. As of right now, though, I don’t trust him to handle heavy hitters, strong takedown artists, or capable counter-fighters in general. His debut should be a successful one, though; Nick Aguirre is a capable grappler but will struggle to handle Talbott’s pace or striking skill.
His A1C bouts are on Fight Pass.
Myktybek Orolbai
Weight Class: Welterweight
Age: 25
Record: 11-1-1 (6 KO, 4 SUB)
Notable Victories: Hayward Charles, Jalin Fuller
Team Alpha Male’s Orolbai went unbeaten in his first six pro fights before running afoul of Khalied Satuev, who remains undefeated to this day. After a trio of wins in his native Kyrgyzstan, he took his talent to LFA, putting together a 3-0 record that most recently saw him sleep Hayward Charles with one of the nastiest uppercuts you’ll ever see.
He steps in for the injured Jonny Parsons on four days’ notice.
Orolbai entered LFA as a suffocating wrestler, eager to wrap up a body lock, trip his opponent to the mat, and go to work. He glided clean through Jalin Fuller’s guard with little resistance, and though he didn’t establish any truly dominant positions or get deep on any submissions, he was always in position to drag Fuller back to the mat any time the latter tried to scramble. Fuller never had room to breathe and Orolbai, despite missing weight and being undersized for the division, looked like he still had plenty in the tank after throwing Fuller around for 15 minutes.
He’s been much more eager of late to use his striking, which is quickly developing into a real threat. Despite that grappling background, he’s surprisingly light on his feet, constantly feinting level changes to keep opponents aware of his wrestling. His jab is stiff, his right hand is potent, and he’s comfortable kicking with either leg.
He’s clearly got a very good grasp on striking mechanics; what he needs now is fluidity. Orolbai generally doesn’t throw more than one or two strikes at a time, and when he sits down on his right hand, he cocks it so deep that there’s a telegraphed delay before he lets it go. He needs to put a little less zip on it and not step in so deep that opponents can see it coming; the feints alone aren’t enough to save him from counters.
Overall, though, he’s making very good strides on the feet. The foundations are there for a lethal standup attack once he’s gotten another year or two of seasoning.
That increased focus on kickboxing doesn’t mean he’s neglecting his takedowns. He hit an easy double-leg on Gláucio Eliziário two fights back and showed off strong offensive and defensive wrestling against Charles. Whether due to the low level of opposition or an increase in confidence, he was much freer with his ground-and-pound than against Fuller, preferring to stand over his opponents and slam home accurate punches to the head and body.
Orolbai is an extremely promising young man. I don’t see any real red flags in his style, just some rough edges that need standing. He’s in for a hell of a tough debut against Uros Medic, though. If he can’t consistently take Medic down, I don’t see him standing up to Medic’s lethal striking offense.
His LFA bouts are on Fight Pass
Caio “Bigfoot” Machado
Weight Class: Heavyweight
Age: 29
Record: 8-1-1 (4 KO, 2 SUB)
Notable Victories: Kevin Szaflarski, Chris Larsen
The Brazil-born, Canada-based Machado spent his first nine fights in Battlefield Fight League, winning its Heavyweight title in 2021 and defending it three times before joining the Contender Series. There, he outclassed a lethargic Kevin Szaflarski to win a unanimous decision and claim a UFC contract.
“Bigfoot” leans on strong low and body kicks alongside heavy, looping punch flurries. He’ll often use those flurries to force his way into the clinch, where he boasts some solid knees. Though his punch technique can leave a lot to be desired, he’s got some speed and pop to his shots when he’s fresh and does a nice job of mixing his head and body shots.
He’s not quite fast and powerful enough to make up for those technical shortcomings though. Machado loads up quite a bit on his punches, especially his overhand left; not only does it make them easy to see coming, but he also leans way in and to the side when throwing them, usually keeping his off-hand too low in the process. This habit gets more pronounced as he slows down, which seems to be at about the eight-minute mark. Someone with the wherewithal to use catch-and-pitch counters will give him hell.
Machado does have the benefit of a ridiculous chin, at least. Back in 2021, he fought Chris Larsen, a man whose build suggests the sorts of supplements that melt through test tubes. Machado got knocked completely unconscious by a nasty left hook against the fence, but rebooted milliseconds later without ever coming close to hitting the deck, then proceeded to eat a flush spinning back fist like it was nothing before sleeping Larsen with a counter left off the back foot
As for his grappling, Machado seems strangely weak in the clinch despite his insistence on going there. Szaflarski controlled him against the fence for quite a while, as did a number of previous opponents. Even when he’s doing the grinding, he gets reversed quite often. I’ve only seen him attempt one takedown, an outside trip that landed him right in mount. His other stints in top control came via countering his opponents’ poor takedown attempts.
Said stints featured solid ground-and-pound alongside a reasonably slick armbar, one he hit on Lee Mein when Mein tried to sweep his way out of mount and one he hit on Edison Lopes in a buzzer-beater. On the defensive side, he was extremely quick to get underhooks and toss Szaflarski aside whenever the latter tried to change levels.
Reviewing the tape, I realized I hadn’t given Machado enough credit when I raged at his earning a contract for a weak performance. His standup is visibly developing and he’s reasonably entertaining while his cardio holds up. That said, he definitely needs to improve his cardio while reining in and tightening up his haymakers. He should also really consider dropping about 15 pounds or so; he was a career-high 256 against Szaflarski and got outmuscled anyway, so it’s probably not worth the loss in mobility compared to his earlier efforts.
Not the worst Heavyweight I’ve seen join the UFC roster, but he’s in for a bad time against Mick Parkin. Parkin completely shut down the capable Jamal Pogues last time out, showing the striking technique and cardio needed to take Machado apart.
His BFL bouts are on Fight Pass.
Rafael “Macapa” Estevam
Weight Class: Flyweight
Age: 27
Record: 11-0 (4 KO, 3 SUB)
Notable Victories: Joao Elias, Filipe Esteves, Erick Viscondi
Nova Uniao’s Estevam ran the table in Shooto Brasil before joining LFA, where he pounded out undefeated Filipe Estevas in his one and only appearance. He moved on to the Contender Series 14 months later, ultimately winning a contract by brutalizing Joao Elias.
Estevam’s ground-and-pound is his greatest weapon. Whether pounding away from guard/half guard or posturing up to rain hell from mount, he’s constantly throwing punches, hammerfists, and elbows that can quickly sap the life from his opponent. His impressive gas tank makes the barrage never-ending; he racked up over 100 ground strikes in 1.5 rounds against Elias and looked fresh enough to land 100 more. Equally eye-catching is his submission defense, which carried him through Elias’ triangle, armbar, and leglock attacks without issue.
Though he has a habit of shooting from too far out and doesn’t have the best initial level change, he’s a very skilled and persistent chain wrestler. It’s incredibly difficult to get him off of you and he’s quick to re-shoot if you manage to get back to your feet.
Unfortunately, his standup is fairly underdeveloped outside of his steady pressure. I try not to use the term “spamming” too much, as it makes me feel like a salty FGC player who doesn’t know how to block overheads, but Estevam straight-up spams body kicks. While he’ll mix in front kicks and low kicks as well, naked roundhouse kicks form the bulk of his offense. His boxing is limited to lead rights and lunging, awkward hooks, and the one time he tried to put his punches together as a gassing Elias retreated to the fence, Elias floored him with a counter hook.
“Macapa” has a UFC-worthy top game, but I don’t like his chances against UFC-caliber sprawl-and-brawlers. His weak initial shot and lack of setup to his kicks are going to make it very difficult for him to consistently get in position to take top Flyweights down without getting clocked in the process. Still, he’s fairly young at 27 and fights out of a great camp, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see him develop further.
He saw UFC debuts against Carlos Candelario and Zhalgas Zhumagulov fall apart earlier this year, so instead he takes on Charles Johnson. Though Johnson has a massive edge on the feet, the man simply cannot deal with chain wrestling, giving Estevam a very good chance of grappling his way to victory.
His LFA bouts are on Fight Pass
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 82 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 5 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 82: “Allen vs. Craig” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
