Frank Ocean Stirs Up Dating Rumors With UFC's Payton Talbott Again After Reacting To His Win

BY Zachary Horvath 12.2K Views
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Jun 29, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Payton Talbott (red gloves) reacts after knocking out Yanis Ghemmouri (not pictured) during UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas via Imagn Images NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 13: Frank Ocean attends the 2021 Met Gala benefit "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/WireImage)
Payton Talbott and Frank Ocean have been linked to one another since summer 2024 when they were spotted on a lunch date.

We may know why Frank Ocean is nowhere close to making a full return to music. He's too busy supporting his rumored partner, Payton Talbott. The singer and UFC athlete have propelled speculation for about a year or so and the former just did so again. In a screenshot caught by Rap TV, they caught Frank reacting to the bantamweight fighter's victory at card 317.

He posted Talbott imposing his will onto his opponent, Felipe Lima, with a loudly crying face emoji and red heart emoji as the caption. Some were making jokes in the comments section, suggesting that Frank Ocean was making a sexual innuendo given the position that Talbott was in in the photo.

"Bro practiced that move w him [two lougly crying face emojis]" one user writes. "Nahh frank taught him that move," adds another.

Ocean had every right to be happy for his rumored boo though as Talbott is still growing as a fighter. As caught by Sports Illustrated, the exciting prospect was proud of the result and how he felt in the ring. "Big weight lifted off my shoulders. Feels good to know that I can improve during a fight... And just stick to the cause. It felt like I showed up as my best self tonight."

Frank Ocean channel ORANGE Vinyl

He added, "This is probably the biggest win. It makes me feel the most like a fighter that I've ever felt... I love the push and pull, and peeling people's layers. All of it."

But as for the gossipy angle of this story, Ocean and Talbott were first considered to be thing last summer. They were seen having a meal together and enjoying each other's company.

Then, earlier this year, Frank posted Payton on his Instagram Story for Valentine's Day. At this point, things seem to be real between them, but they have yet to formally make it official.

Elsewhere, though, the elusive artist made headlines in his industry by releasing the long-awaited vinyl for his 2012 record, channel ORANGE. Similar to the pressing Blonde, this was highly anticipated. Frank charged $69 for it and as you could imagine, fans scrambled to purchase it. At the time of writing, it's now sold out.

About The Author
Zachary Horvath is one of the Music Freelance News Writers at HotNewHipHop and has held that title since August 2023. Prior to this position, he held another freelance gig covering local high school football, girls and boys varsity basketball, in addition to recapping Cleveland Cavaliers games remotely. He's taken the previous experience and used it to become a jack of all trades at HotNewHipHop. Zach has thoroughly enjoyed tackling some of the trending topics in sports, with a larger focus on hip-hop and pop culture. Some of those include Bronny James's draft stock, a multitude of angles swirling around the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef, as well as Diddy's arrest and lawsuits. Separate from the headlines that everyone wants to hear about, he was fortunate enough to help spread Zaytoven's current thoughts at the time around mid-December in 2023. Even though being able to give his expertise on these stories is fulfilling, being able to share his passion for releases trumps that ever so slightly. Having the chance to express his excitement indirectly about what he thinks our readers should be checking out/revisiting grows his passion for writing that much more.