Doo Ho Choi showed he’s still evolving as the always exciting featherweight battered Nate Landwehr on the feet and then punished him with punches on the ground for a third round stoppage to kick off the UFC 310 main card.

From the first second until the last, Choi was all over Landwehr and never gave him a second to breathe but he was also mixing up his game on the feet and with his grappling. Finally after trapping Landwehr in the crucifix position and dishing out some punishing offense on the ground, the referee had no choice but to stop the fight with Choi getting the win at 3:21 in the third round.

“I feel very amazing,” Choi said about his win. “I feel very happy. In the new generation, I’m happy to show I’m a new level. I’ve been 10 years in the UFC, I should be able to do grappling like this.

Choi set the tone early with a nasty uppercut that snapped Landwehr’s head back and put the always exciting featherweight on his backfoot immediately. From there, Choi really started unloading with combinations with one of the shots opening a cut on Landwehr’s nose as he continued absorbing copious amounts of damage.

Landwehr continued to press forward but Choi was answering him with sharp, precise strikes while avoiding a possible brawl. Choi also started mixing in a blistering leg kick that began chipping away at Landwehr’s foundation but to his credit, the Tennessee native just kept coming at him with his signature grit and aggression.

While he was dominating on the feet, Choi then decided to toss Landwehr to the ground where he immediately transitioned to take the back to begin looking for submissions. Choi continued to maintain control on the ground but the fight eventually got back to the feet with Landwehr desperate to produce any kind of offense to shift the momentum in his favor.

Knowing he was down on the scorecards, Landwehr just started throwing with reckless abandon in hopes of scoring a dramatic comeback but Choi quickly countered by taking him back down to the ground again. This time, Choi locked Landwehr in the crucifix position as he began battering him from the top with short, nasty punches.

The punishment continued with Landwehr just stuck on the bottom with Choi unloading shots until the referee just couldn’t allow the fight to continue.

Following his latest win, Choi turned his attention back to the featherweight rankings with hopes to return to the top 15 again in the near feature.

“My next opponent, I am so ready for Bryce Mitchell,” Choi said. “I believe if I fight with Bryce Mitchell, I will be ranked in the new generation of featherweights.”