Michael Chiesa controlled Neil Magny throughout and scored a five-round unanimous-decision win (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Wednesday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Ranked No. 10 in the welterweight division coming in, Chiesa stamped himself as a contender and called out former interim division champion Colby Covington afterward.

"I knew (Magny) was a good test for me," Chiesa said in his postfight interview. "If I wasn't about to push through five rounds, I couldn't talk about being a champion."

Chisea then issued his challenge to Covington.

"Your schtick is done," Chiesa said. "I want you next, boy."

The event took place in front of a small crowd, marking just the second time the UFC has had ticketed fans in attendance since last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Magny (24-8) had a three-fight winning streak snapped. He managed a successful takedown on Chiesa in the third round, and got to Chiesa's back, but he was able to get out of it.

Chiesa (18-4) has won four straight matches and is 4-0 since moving to the welterweight division from lightweight in 2018.

Chiesa, 33, managed to ground Magny in every round, was successful in 4-of-6 takedown attempts, and had more than 15 minutes of control time on the ground, according to UFC Stats.

In the welterweight co-main event, Warlley Alves scored a first-round TKO over Mounir Lazzez.

Alves (15-4) charged out at the start and never relented. Three straight kicks to the body doubled over Lazzez, and Alves then followed with a flurry of strikes until the referee called the bout at 2:35.

Alves, 30, won in his first match since 2019 after being out with a torn biceps.

"I planned a lot for this moment," Alves said. "I tore my biceps (and) say, 'God, what happens now?' God say, 'Keep it going. Keep it going.' I'm here. I'm back."

Lazzez (10-2) had a three-match win streak snapped.

At light heavyweight, Ike Villanueva beat Vinicius Moreira with a second-round knockout.

Villanueva (17-11) landed a big overhand right for the knockout just 39 seconds into the second round.

"That's what got me to the UFC, that overhand right," Villanueva said.

Villanueva snapped a two-fight losing streak, while Moreira (9-5) has lost three straight.

In a women's flyweight bout, Viviane Araujo (10-2) took a unanimous decision against Roxanne Modafferi (25-19). Araujo, who was seven of her last eight fights, swept all three judges' cards (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

At men's flyweight, Matt Schnell edged Tyson Nam in a split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). Schnell (15-5) has won five of his last six bouts while Nam (20-12-1) had a two-fight win streak broken.

Lerone Murphy picked up a unanimous decision victory over Douglas Silva de Andrade in the men's featherweight division. Murphy, 29, moved his record to 10-0-1 and has won two straight since a draw in 2019. Silva de Andrade (26-4) has alternated wins and losses in his last six fights.

On the preliminary card, Manon Fiorot landed a second-round TKO over Victoria Leonardo in a women's flyweight bout; bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov scored a second-round submission win over Sergey Morozov; lightweight Mike Davis won via unanimous decision over Mason Jones; Francisco Figueiredo picked up a unanimous decision victory over Jerome Rivera in a flyweight contest; middleweight Dalcha Lungiambula secured a unanimous decision win against Markus Perez; flyweight Su Mudaerji won via unanimous decision against Zarrukh Adashev; bantamweight Ricky Simon took a second-round submission win over Gaetano Pirrello; and middleweight Omari Akhmedov picked up a second-round submission victory over Tom Breese.

--Field Level Media