Marlon Moraes Calls for Title Shot After Stunning 33-Second KO Against Jimmie Rivera

Marlon Moraes is gunning for gold.

The former World Series of Fighting Champion wanted to make a statement in his first UFC main event and that’s exactly what he accomplished on Friday night in New York.

Taking on Jimmie Rivera, who was undefeated in his UFC career with 20 straight wins overall, Moraes was extremely confident that he could go out and dominate the fight from start to finish.

That’s exactly what Moraes did although he didn’t need much time to prove it.

After pawing at each other with a few early strikes, Moraes unleashed a hellish head kick that bounced off Rivera’s head and sent him crashing down to the canvas.

HOW BOUT THAT UTICA!!!!! @MMarlonMoraes ends it with a stunner!#UFCUtica pic.twitter.com/wy27Oa4ODC

— UFC (@ufc) June 2, 2018

With Rivera face first on the ground, Moraes followed up with a few more punches until the referee finally swooped into stop the fight at just 33 seconds into the opening round.

Afterwards, Moraes wasted no time calling his shot as he asked for a chance to compete for the UFC bantamweight championship.

“I’m a mixed martial artist. If you think I’m going to kick you, I’m going to take you down. If you think I’m going to take you down, I’m going to knock you out. I’m ready,” Moraes shouted after his win.

“I want the title. I want to fight for the UFC bantamweight title. That’s it.”

With two straight knockouts and three wins in a row overall, it’s going to be tough to deny putting Moraes in that conversation with bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw preparing to defend his title against Cody Garbrandt at UFC 227 in August.

Elsewhere on the card Friday night, Gregor Gillespie remained undefeated in his UFC campaign with a second round submission win over Vinc Pichel.

Gillespie is now 12-0 in his career with four straight finishes in the ultra-deep lightweight division.