UFC bantamweight Payton Talbott has responded to ongoing speculation that he’s dating Grammy-winning artist Frank Ocean.
The pair have been linked for more than a year, after appearing on each other’s social media and following Talbott’s YouTube upload of Ocean’s unreleased track “Diary.” Ocean was also spotted in the crowd during Talbott’s fight against Raoni Barcelos in January, later posting on Instagram: “Gotta cook tonight.”
Talbott refuses to label
In an interview with The New York Times on Sunday (24 August), Talbott brushed off the rumours and questions about his sexuality:
“Who I’m trying to have sex with is none of your business, unless I’m trying to have sex with you.”
He also fired back at critics within the UFC fan base who mocked him for wearing crop tops and pole dancing in videos, saying:
“Why do I have to be manly? Why does my image and what I wear have anything to do with my fighting? Even if it did, what do you care?”
Talbott said his self-expression is about balance:
“The stronger I felt, I also felt I needed to feminise myself when appropriate. It’s just a subconscious thing. I don’t feel I owe anyone anything. I’m just going to try to be myself, and the people who get it will get it.”
His friendship with Ocean
Talbott has previously spoken about his connection to Ocean, telling Low Kick MMA:
“We hung out a couple times and just had a lot of appreciation for each other in our respective careers. It was kind of strange and unexpected at first but after meeting him, he’s just a normal person, very special and gifted, but just a person. He’s not a fight fan. The universe just connects people.”
What’s next for Ocean?
Ocean, whose last album Blonde dropped in 2016, hasn’t released new music in nearly a decade. However, fans were buzzing in May after mysterious posters appeared in Tokyo reading “Frank” alongside a QR code, which linked to an Instagram account referencing The Wizard of Oz. The account only followed Ocean, fuelling rumours of a long-awaited comeback.
