UFC Fortaleza results: Marlon Moraes states his case with finish of Raphael Assuncao

In a muddled bantamweight picture, Marlon Moraes is going out of his way to make sure he stays on everyone’s mind.

The former World Series of Fighting champion had a statement victory in the main event of UFC Fortaleza on Saturday night, as he earned a first-round submission over the always tough Raphael Assuncao. The time of the stoppage via guillotine choke at Centro de Formação Olímpica do Nordeste was 3:17.

With the victory, Moraes avenged his only UFC loss and his only defeat overall since 2011.

“It was a very tough win for me,” Moraes said. “I was really tested.”

Moraes dictated the fight’s tempo from the outset and it didn’t take long for his approach to pay off. A pair of right hands dropped Assuncao to the mat. From there, he softened him up with punches from the top, and deftly transitioned from there into position for the winning choke.

With that, Moraes (22-5-1) has won four in a row since a highly debated split-decision loss to Assuncao at UFC 212, including three first-round finishes.

Moraes took a swipe at bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw’s recent loss to flyweight titleholder Henry Cejudo afterwards.

“T.J. Dillashaw, I don’t know if you deserve the fight with me after your last performance. I may have to let you go down in weight and fight with the little boys,” he said.

Assuncao (28-6) had a four-fight win streak snapped.