By Michael Hatamoto

Chris Weidman completely thrashed fellow wrestler Mark Munoz, landing a huge elbow in the second round that was followed up with vicious ground and pound.

The stoppage of the fight came at 1:37 of the second round, with Weidman picking up an impressive knockout victory. Not surprisingly, the Serra-Longo fighter also earned a $40,000 “Knockout of the Night” fight night bonus, which was announced during the post-fight press conference.

The first round was all Weidman, where he spent the majority of the round on top, fighting for potential submissions while landing strikes.

Here is what Weidman said following the fight:

“I’ve just been playing around with some elbows. I was playing with the elbows Jon Jones has given the blueprint on how to do it, so I just sort of followed him. I want Anderson Silva. Every time I’ve had a full training camp I’ve gotten a finish. I’ve want a chance at Anderson Silva.”

Before the fight, I bought into the Munoz hype – and drastically overlooked Weidman – but it looks like the UFC found a legitimate No. 1 contender to Anderson Silva.

Since entering the UFC in early 2011, Weidman has picked up five straight wins against fairly tough competition: Alessio Sakara, Jesse Bongfeldt, Tom Lawlor, Demian Maia, and tonight’s win against Munoz. His mix of top notch wrestling and powerful striking have proven to be too difficult for everyone he’s fought – and a fight against Silva should be fun.

Will Weidman try and actually trade strikes with Silva, or will he follow Chael Sonnen’s game plan by taking the champion down? Once on the ground, however, Weidman should be able to threaten with significantly more damaging ground and pound against Silva.

We may find out later this year…