Former two-division champion Henry Cejudo is returning to meet a rising young star.
Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) will battle Payton Talbott (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) in a bantamweight bout at UFC 323 on Dec. 6, Dana White announced Monday. The event takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The bantamweight bout will mark the first competition for Cejudo since a February loss to Song Yadong by technical decision. The defeat was his third in a row. His most recent win came in May 2020 when he defended the UFC bantamweight title vs. Dominick Cruz. Cejudo retired afterward for a nearly three-year-layoff.
Talbott aims to turn a standalone win over Felipe Lima into a winning streak. Coming off his Dana White’s Contender Series victory in 2023, Talbott was one of the sport’s most discussed prospects. He finished his first three UFC appearances before an upset loss to Raoni Barcelos.
The current UFC 323 lineup includes:
- Champ Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan – for bantamweight title
- Champ Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van – for flyweight title
- Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov
- Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott
- Brandon Moreno vs. Tatsuro Taira
- Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva
- Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Antonio Trocoli
- Chris Duncan vs. Terrance McKinney
- Nazim Sadykhov vs. Fares Ziam
