Payton Talbott makes a loud statement, finishes Yanis Ghemmouri in only 19 seconds at UFC 303

LAS VEGAS -- It's still too early to say if Payton Talbott is a legitimate championship contender.

But boy, he surely looked like one Saturday in his bout against Yanis Ghemouri on the preliminary card of UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena. Talbott, the cliff-jump, thrill-seeking psychology graduate from the University of Nevada-Reno, needed only 19 seconds to finish Ghemmouri. He landed a jab and a right hand that dropped Ghemmouri with a thud.

It could have been over right there, and Talbott paused for a second to allow referee Chris Tognoni to jump in and save Ghemmouri. When Tognoni did not, Talbott landed a couple of big fists from the top, pounding Ghemmouri, before it was mercifully halted.

It was reminiscent of some of the early work done by bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley and featherweight champ Ilia Topuria. He loudly, and violently, made his name heard on Saturday.

"It's electric," Talbott said. "It's feeling like all my dreams are coming true. Everything I've believed is in my hands now and so I've just got to keep going at it."

Talbott, who has been going at O'Malley in interviews and on social media, made a good call out after raising his record to 9-0 overall and 3-0 with three finishes in the UFC. He said he wanted to face Adrian Yanez in his next outing which is a good test and a big step up for him.

Yanez is 17-5 overall in MMA and 6-2 in the UFC with five KOs. If that fight is made and Talbott gets past Yanez, he'd move from prospect to contender. Buckle up. This is going to be a fun ride watching this kid.