Red-hot bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott fights Raoni Barcelos at UFC 311 on Jan. 18

Jesse Holland is among the longest-tenured media professionals in the combat sports news space, covering MMA, professional wrestling and boxing on a full-time basis since early 2004.

Undefeated bantamweight sensation Payton Talbott returns to face well-traveled 135-pound veteran Raoni Barcelos as part of the upcoming UFC 311 pay-per-view (PPV) event, according to MMA Fighting, scheduled for Sat., Jan. 18, 2025.

A city and venue have yet to be revealed but early reports point to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.

The 26 year-old Talbott improved to 9-0 with his blistering, first-round knockout over Yanis Ghemmouri at UFC 303 last June. As for Barcelos, 37, he landed at 18-5 by submitting Cristian Quinonez at UFC Mexico City back in February.

Neither fighter is ranked in the Division Top 15 ... for now.

UFC 311 does not yet have a headlining act but is expected to feature the heavyweight showdown between Jailton Almeida and Serghei Spivac. Elsewhere on the card, Johnny Walker returns to action to battle light heavyweight bruiser Bogdan Guskov.

Expect more UFC 311 fight card announcements in the coming days.