Michael Chiesa wrestles his way to victory over Neil Magny at UFC Fight Night

American defeated countryman by unanimous decision at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and immediately called out former interim champion Covington

US fighter Michael Chiesa on his way to victory over countryman Neil Magny in their welterweight fight during UFC Fight Night at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. All images Getty

Michael Chiesa celebrates his victory over Neil Magny.

Michael Chiesa takes down Neil Magny.

Neil Magny punches Michael Chiesa.

Brazil's Warlley Alves lands a kick on his way to victory over Mounir Lazzez of Tunisia in a welterweight fight.

Warlley Alves celebrates after his knockout victory over Mounir Lazzez.

Russia's Umar Nurmagomedov celebrates after his victory over Sergey Morozov of Kazakhstan in a bantamweight bout.

Umar Nurmagomedov lands a kick on Sergey Morozov during his submission victory.

US fighter Ike Villanueva lands a punch on his way to victory over Vinicius Moreira of Brazil in a light heavyweight bout.

Vinicius Moreira of Brazil punches Ike Villanueva.

Brazil's Viviane Araujolands a punch on Roxanne Modafferi of the US in a flyweight bout.

Roxanne Modafferi punches Viviane Araujo.

US fighter Matt Schnell lands a punch on his way to victory over countryman Tyson Nam in their flyweight bout.

Tyson Nam punches Matt Schnell.

British fighter Lerone Murphy lands a punch on his way to victory over Douglas Silva de Andrade of Brazil in their featherweight bout.

Douglas Silva de Andrade lands a kick on Lerone Murphy.

Dalcha Lungiambula of the Congo punches Brazil's Markus Perez. Lungiambula won the bout.

Markus Perez kicks Dalcha Lungiambula.

Belgium's Gaetano Pirrello punches Ricky Simon of the US in a bantamweight bout.

Ricky Simon prepares to take down Gaetano Pirrello on his way to victory via submission.

Uzbekistan's Zarrukh Adashev punches Su Mudaerji of China. Mudaerji won the bout.

Su Mudaerji punches Zarrukh Adashev.

Brazil's Francisco Figueiredo punches Jerome Rivera on his way to victory over the American in their flyweight bout.

Jerome Rivera and Francisco Figueiredo during their flyweight bout.

United States fighter Victoria Leonardo punches Manon Fiorot on her way to a knockout victory over the French fighter in a flyweight bout.

Manon Fiorot lands a punch on Victoria Leonardo.

Welsh fighter Mason Jones punches Mike Davis of the United States in a lightweight bout won by the American

Mike Davis kicks Mason Jones.

Michael Chiesa took home the spoils in the headline bout at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi early on Thursday morning.

The American defeated compatriot Neil Magny by unanimous decision at Etihad Arena, wrestling his way to the win through five rounds. All three judges gave it 49-46 in the welterweight bout.

Having gone into the encounter as the division’s No 8-ranked contender – Magny was ninth – Chiesa is expected to move into the top five. As soon as the result was confirmed, he immediately called out former interim champion Colby Covington.

“Because he’s the toughest match-up for me,” Chiesa said at the post-fight press conference. “Stylistically, that guy should beat me on any given Sunday. From a physical standpoint, from the mental warfare standpoint, there’s not a lot of boxes you can check that favour me in that fight.

“But how can I say I want to be champion if I don’t want to fight the best guys? And sometimes the best guys are the ones who are toughest for you stylistically. So I look at the top five and he’s the hardest fight for me.

“We’ll see what happens. If I come up short I come up short. If I want to be the best I got to beat the best. That’s the guy.”

Chiesa arrived at the fight on the back of a three-fight win streak, although he had not competed in almost exactly a year. With the win, he moved to 18-4 in professional mixed martial arts.

“It’s surreal man," he said. "I’ve always been vocal since I got into the UFC that my goal is to become world champion. And the key is really setting the small goals along the way. And that four-five win streak in the UFC has alluded me for a while.

"Being able to achieve that goal tonight, getting my rematch with a main event and getting a fair shake on the score cards, winning my first main event ... it's achieving these small goals along the way to get to the ultimate prize.

“That was a tough fight, man. Neil’s as tough as they come. That guy can beat anybody on any given day. This is the biggest win for me, for sure.”

In the co-main event, Dubai-based Mounir Lazzez fell to a first-round TKO in his welterweight clash with Warlley Alves.

Making only his second UFC appearance, and first since the debut victory last July, Lazzez was caught with a succession of kicks before referee Herb Dean eventually waved it off.

Cheered on by a vocal cluster of compatriots, the Tunisian, whose nickname is “The Sniper”, raised his hands in apology upon leaving the octagon.

“This was my game plan, to throw kicks,” said Alves before collecting one of the two Performance of the Night bonuses handed out by the UFC. “I kicked him twice and he was hurt, so I kicked him again. He’s a sniper and snipers need distance. I fought him close.

“I feel happy. I worked a lot. This is my moment. I’m back. That is all.”