Farid Basharat never lost a fight in the UFC, and the UFC let him go anyway. Now he and bantamweight Payton Talbott are publicly arguing about it.
MMA Junkie reported Thursday that the two went back and forth over how the promotion treats its athletes. The exchange came a day after MMA Fighting broke the news that Basharat had been taken off the roster. He fought out his contract with a decision win over John Garza in July, and no new deal followed.
Basharat confirmed the split and didn’t sound sentimental about it. “The organization isn’t what it used to be. They’re heading in a different direction from what we all grew up loving,” he said, per MMA Junkie.
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That’s a pointed shot from a guy who is 16-0 overall and 7-0 in the octagon. He’s No. 8 at 135 in Knockout Daily’s rankings, an Afghan-born Englishman who trains at American Top Team. He came over from Dana White’s Contender Series and beat Da’Mon Blackshear at UFC 285. After that came Kleydson Rodrigues (arm-triangle, Round 1), Taylor Lapilus, Victor Hugo at featherweight after Hugo missed weight by 10 pounds, Chris Gutierrez at UFC 320, and Jean Matsumoto by split decision in February. Garza, a promotional newcomer, stepped in for Ethyn Ewing at UFC 329 on July 11. Basharat won that one on the cards too.
That’s the detail Championship Rounds flagged: six of the seven UFC wins went to the judges. The UFC hasn’t publicly explained why it passed. My guess is the decision-heavy résumé didn’t help, but that’s my read and nothing more.
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Talbott is a different kind of fighter with a different kind of résumé. The Reno Academy of Combat product is 12-1 and sits at No. 15 in our rankings. He earned his contract on the Contender Series in 2023, then won his first three UFC fights with two Performance of the Night bonuses, including a 19-second knockout of Yanis Ghemmouri at UFC 303. His only loss came at UFC 311, when Raoni Barcelos outwrestled him for three rounds. He last fought on Oct. 3.
So one guy is still on the roster and the other is a free agent at 29 with a zero still intact. MMA Junkie’s report put fighter treatment at the center of the beef, and Basharat’s quote tells you which side of it he’s on.
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No new promotion has been reported for Basharat. He does have an older brother, Javid, who fights bantamweight in the PFL, so at least one person at the family dinner table knows what life outside the UFC looks like.
