Last night's (Fri. June 1, 2018) UFC Utica main event produced some stunning finishes and amazing fights, but the main event of the evening absolutely stole the show.No. 4-ranked Jimmie Rivera took on No. 5-ranked Marlon Moraes in the main event, and the winner of the bout was expected to take the next step in their chase for the 170-pound title. The Brazilian came into the fight on a two-fight win streak, fresh off a Knockout Of The Year candidate over Aljamain Sterling this past December after scoring a first round knockout in just a minute.He previously held the bantamweight title when he was fighting under the World Series Of Fighting (WSOF) banner. Now in the UFC, Moraes is looking to achieve his ultimate goal of winning the 135-pound throne in the UFC.
Legacy
As for Rivera, he has made strides in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career and has been turning heads in the UFC.
Rivera hadn't lost a fight in a decade and was riding a 20-fight win streak. With wins over Urijah Faber and Thomas Almeida, a lot was being expected out of the New York native.
30 Seconds
30 seconds into the fight, however, Moraes landed a nasty switch kick that immediately dropped Rivera to the mat. Moraes swarmed on him for the ground-and-pound and the referee stepped in for the stoppage.
Rivera's 20-fight win streak and 10-year long undefeated tour was put to a stop in just 30 seconds. You can check out the crazy sequence of events here below:
After the fight, Moraes said he fully intends to challenge for the UFC bantamweight title next. Current champ TJ Dillashaw is set to defend the title against rival Cody Garbrandt first, so we'll have to see how things shake out there before Moraes gets anything confirmed.
Options
Should Garbrandt win that fight against Dillashaw, each man would own a win over the other and a trilogy fight would likely be next.
In the meantime, if Moraes wanted to keep busy he could share the Octagon with former bantamweight king and one of the greatest of all time in Dominick Cruz.
If Moraes was able to defeat Cruz, something Dillashaw wasn't able to do after five rounds, nobody could deny the Brazilian a shot at the bantamweight throne.
What are your thoughts on Moraes ending Rivera's impressive win streak in just 30 seconds? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below!