It’s becoming more and more clear with every appearance that Payton Talbott is the real deal and is going to be a player in the loaded bantamweight division in the very near future.

After four consecutive decisions opened the card, Talbott (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) woke up the crowd and viewers at home when he absolutely floored Yanis Ghemmouri just 19 seconds into their fight for the second-fastest finish in UFC bantamweight history.

It was a sensational performance, and Talbott used his mic time with Joe Rogan well to call out Adrian Yanez, which would be an absolutely banging fight. So far it seems Talbott has that “it” factor, and at only 25, it’s going to be a fun road to monitor with him going forward.

Ian Machado Garry clawed his way to a unanimous decision win over Michael Page in their main card opener, and although it wasn’t the most thrilling fight in the world, it put him further on a rare trajectory to start his UFC welterweight career.

With eight straight victories to begin his UFC career, Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) now joins Kamaru Usman as the only fighters in divisional history with such octagon starts. Whether you like him or not, that type of resume speaks for itself.

Perhaps Garry won’t get to the belt as quickly as desired, because this performance showed he has some work to do still, but at just 26, he is very much doing things the right way. A fight between Garry and Usman or Colby Covington would be a great test of where he’s at, and if he emerges on top, a chance to challenge for the belt would be within his reach.

The thing that I love so much about this industry is that, despite covering it for more than 10 years, there routinely are things happening that are new and totally unexpected. And it feels like I write those exact words that in this column at least once or twice per year, which emphasizes the point.

We had another unprecedented situation in the co-main event when Brian Ortega withdrew after the card had already begun, and the UFC somehow got Dan Ige to step in on just hours’ notice to fight Diego Lopes.

When the rumors started swirling this last-minute switch could happen, it felt like a nice pipe dream, but not something that was truly realistic. Boy, was that ever wrong. It turned out to be the perfect storm instead, because Ige (18-8 MMA, 10-7 UFC) had all the proper paperwork in place to be cleared for competition by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, made it to the arena in time for a same-day weigh-in, and got the green light to fight.

There are so, so many little things that could’ve derailed this plan, but when there’s a will there’s a way. Both Lopes (24-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) and Ige were willing participants, and it resulted in a first-of-its-kind moment in UFC history with a whole new fight being made after the card had already started, with one of the guys involved going from an observer at home to competing.

Did it turn out to be the most exciting fight in the world? No. Obviously both guys were not properly prepared for this moment, but that’s almost moot. Lopes was solid and dangerous early on as always, and Ige refused to be finished as he gave it his all and delivered his best stuff in Round 3.

Bravo to all involved, and this is a crazy moment in UFC history that won’t soon be forgotten.

Just when I thought there was a moment to shut down and rest in the aftermath of post-event coverage, a video popped up on the ol’ social media feed of Jiri Prochazka, sitting along and reflecting on his main event loss to Alex Pereira.

It was on-brand for the unique character that is Prochazka (30-5-1 MMA, 4-2-1 UFC), but also very real. The quote that stood out, though, was of course his mention that if he can’t “evolve” on the heels of his second-round knockout loss to Pereira, then perhaps he won’t ever fight again. And that’s certainly a fascinating statement.

Prochazka now is 0-2 in head-to-head matchups with Pereira, which is the worst spot he can be in. You can call it the Rich Franklin experience if you’re an older fan, but if you’re a newer one, think of the Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway dynamic, except worse.

After some controversy surrounded the stoppage of their first fight in November, the rematch left no doubt. Prochazka was outclassed and finished in a definitive manner, and now he’s trapped on the outside looking in as long as Pereira is in this division holding the belt, as a third bout is unlikely. That truly sucks for him, because Prochazka is a hell of a fighter. But even he seems to know his approach to the game has a ceiling.

As fun as Prochazka’s style is to watch every time he steps in that octagon, he leaves himself open to be hit a lot. Pereira is the last person you want to give those opportunities to, and he’s shown why in both fights.

Prochazka is a big guy who hits hard so he has a chance in any fight, but the recklessness is a coin toss at the absolute highest level. We’ve seen that twice now in title bouts, and if he ever finds himself in that spot again, he’s not giving himself the best chance to win. This seems to be who Prochazka inherently is, though, so changing it might be easier said than done.

If Prochazka comes to the conclusion he can’t reach that next level he desires, then maybe this was the last we’ve seen of him. But all MMA fans should be hopeful that’s not the case.

What more can be said about Alex Pereira that hasn’t been written already in this column? If it feels like I’m here every few months showering the UFC light heavyweight champion with praise, it’s because I am. Pereira is an absolute stud, and what he’s doing is truly unprecedented.

The circumstances leading into Pereira’s title rematch with Prochazka were nothing short of unideal. He traveled from Australia to Las Vegas on about two weeks’ notice, battled through toe injuries and put his belt on the line against someone he’d already beaten. Did that hold him back? Absolutely not.

In fact, this might have been the best UFC performance from Pereira (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) so far, which is just ridiculous to think about. He was operating on another level from Prochazka during the striking exchanges, and set him up beautifully for the head kick finish. It’s just good stuff.

Now begs the question … is Pereira the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the game right now? We just had this whole discussion about Islam Makhachev and Jon Jones in the wake of UFC 302, but that was before Pereira was ever scheduled to fight on this card, and, of course, before he won in the manner he did.

As we spark this discussion, am I going to sit here and pretend that Pereira is a more complete fighter than either Makhachev or Jones? No. Obviously he’s not. But is he winning at the same or an arguably even higher level than both guys? Yeah. And that’s what matters.

The Brazilian doesn’t need to be a submission ace or takedown wizard to win his fights. His anti-grappling is just effective enough to allow him a chance to find openings to shut the lights off on his opponents, all of whom are top-tier.

As much as UFC CEO Dana White will want to sit up there and claim Jones is undeniably the No. 1 pound-for-pound currently – I still disagree with his assessment of what that title means. Jones is the greatest of all time, but to me, pound-for-pound rankings put greater emphasis on what a given athlete is doing currently.

What has Pereira done lately? Well, since he moved to light heavyweight from middleweight (where he was also a champ) exactly 11 months prior to UFC 303, he’s beaten four former UFC champions – with three wins by knockout. Neither Jones nor Makhachev can boast those kind of numbers, so the case for “Poatan” is strong coming off another legendary night.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.