UTICA, NY - JUNE 01: Marlon Moraes of Brazil walks out into the arena prior to facing Jimmie Rivera in their bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at the Adirondack Bank Center on June 1, 2018 in Utica, New York. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

After his win at UFC Utica, Marlon Moraes said he is only interested in facing the winner of the title fight between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt.

When Marlon Moraes made his debut in the UFC last year, many expected him to challenge for the bantamweight title sooner than later. Exceeding those expectations in just a few months’ time, ‘Magic’ worked his way up the proverbial bantamweight ladder and inched closer to a shot at the belt.

Before he could officially become the next title challenger, he needed to get through No.4 ranked Jimmie Rivera.

Moraes and Rivera had quite the rivalry going into their main event showdown at UFC Utica. Both men wanted to fight each other on several occasions, but each time the bout would fall through, leaving Moraes and Rivera more and more frustrated with one another. Months of trash talk between the two was silenced in just 33-seconds, when Moraes threw a head kick that dropped Rivera and followed up with several punches to end the fight.

After the fight, Moraes spoke with media backstage about the spectacular win and where that puts him in terms of his title hunt.

“I thought it was a lot of action but that was a good fight. I worked hard for this opponent. He was 20 fights undefeated the last ten years [and] I was able to finish him,” said Moraes. “He was coming off two finishes and we knew how tough it was, but we worked hard. Worked hard and we got the victory.

“When you get ready, you get yourself ready for five [rounds] and sometimes you finish early.”

Defeating Rivera in a fight that was widely considered a title eliminator, Moraes is sure to be next in line for a title shot and he intends on waiting for it. Current champion TJ Dillashaw is set to rematch former champion Cody Garbrandt at UFC 227 in August, so Moraes will have a few months to prepare himself for whoever possesses the title following the conclusion of the fight.

“I’m going to go back home and train. That was a fight, and like I said before the fight, matchups make fighters and I fought him,” said Moraes. “And the way I beat him? That was a way that somebody that deserves to fight for the title should perform.

“I really don’t want any other fight. I want to fight for the belt. My next fight I want to fight for the belt. I’m definitely waiting. I want to fight for the title.”

Although he will ready himself for the title, Moraes knows it may not happen in his next fight. Like many other fighters, Moraes could very well find himself in the position of fighting once more before becoming the No.1 guy in the division.

When asked whether he thought he would be getting a championship fight in his next outing, Moraes responded with slight uncertainty mixed with optimism.

“You never know. I’m gonna keep working and go back [with] Mark Henry, Ricardo Almeida, Frankie Edgar, Anderson and we’re gonna keep working,” said Moraes. “Keep getting better and keep fighting.”