ATLANTA -- Surging heavyweight Travis Browne stayed unbeaten in his MMA career, rocking Chad Griggs early and then taking him down before finishing with an arm triangle choke submission.

The athletic heavyweight blasted Griggs seconds into the fight with a flying knee that dazed the Strikeforce veteran before using a bodylock to put him on the mat. There, Browne blasted him with a series of left hands before locking in the fight-ending choke.

The finish came at 2:29 of the first round.

Afterward, Browne credited Griggs on his toughess, wondering how he could have stayed upright following the knee, but said he was offering a message to the rest of the division as well.

"I belong here. UFC heavyweights, watch out, baby," he said.

Browne improved to 13-0-1 with the impressive victory. He's 4-0-1 in the UFC. Meanwhile, Griggs suffered his first defeat since 2007, and fell to 11-2. Griggs had been making his UFC debut after moving over from Strikeforce.