Norman Parke Storms Past Naoyuki Kotani, Wants Diego Sanchez Next

Norman Parke has his sights set on Diego Sanchez. | Ciaran Maher/Sherdog.com

However, the tilt could have easily never made it to the second.

The O2 Arena in Dublin was rocking at the tail end of the first frame, as “Stormin” nearly finished the fight. Kotani was able to make it to the second, but Parke assumed top position and started raining left-handed strikes to earn the stoppage from referee Marc Goddard.

The loss was Kotani’s first since 2o10 -- he entered his second stint with the UFC on a 13-fight winning streak. His career mark under the Zuffa banner now drops to 0-3.

After the fight, the Northern Ireland native knew exactly who he would like to face inside the Octagon next.

"Give me a top 20 opponent," Parke told Dan Hardy in a post-fight interview. "Diego Sanchez, where you at, punk?"

Sanchez is coming off one of the most controversial judging decisions in 2014, a split decision victory against Ross Pearson at UFC Fight Night “Henderson vs. Khabilov.”

Not one to shy away from a challenge, it will be interesting to see if the UFC books “The Dream” vs. Parke sooner rather than later.