Diego Ferreira knows the best is yet to come.

At UFC 246, Ferreira picked up the biggest win of his career when he submitted Anthony Pettis in the second round. The victory got the Brazilian a spot in the UFC rankings, and it also happened to take place on his birthday which he says was a great present.

“That was a great birthday present. It was awesome to be in Vegas too and this was my dream to fight in Vegas so it went perfect,” Ferreira told BJPENN.com.

As for how the fight went, Ferreira is pleased with his performance. The game plan was to pressure Pettis and look for a submission which is exactly what happened.

Yet Ferreira did get hit with a couple of shots. So he knows he still can improve, and knows he will have to as he moves his way up the lightweight rankings.

“I was really happy. Behind the scenes, I was wondering what I should do. To get a submission, like wow, the game plan went perfectly. To submit a guy like Anthony Pettis, you had to have done something right,” he explained. “I was having a good camp and everything went the way I wanted. He did catch with me a couple of shots. Nothing really landed clean so it was really good but I know I can get better.”

The good news for Diego Ferreira is that he is completely healthy as well. He has no injuries but does have a wedding in April so he’ll look to return after that. The Brazilian is also back in the gym and looking to fight a top-10 opponent next. Who that opponent will be is unknown, but Ferreira has a couple of names in mind.

“I have a couple of names in mind. It could be [Al] Iaquinta, or Paul Felder or Dan Hooker whoever wins that fight,” he said. I think those make sense for my next fight so I can advance a little further in the lightweight division. I don’t want to fight for the belt yet, I just want to be fighting and that is my main goal.”

Following his win over Pettis, Ferreira knows he has what it takes to be a champion at lightweight and is looking to end 2020 as the number one contender.

Who do you think Diego Ferreira should fight after his win over Anthony Pettis at UFC 246?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/27/2020.