Waiakea alumnus Brad Tavares scored a major win in the middleweight division with a third-round TKO of Krzysztof Jotko at UFC on FOX 29 today in Glendale, Ariz.

Tavares (17-5, 12-4 UFC) won for the fifth time in his last six fights and earned his first stoppage win since 2011 against Jotko (19-4, 6-4), who was ranked No. 13 at 185 pounds, two spots ahead of Tavares.

Tavares landed a heavy kick to the gut and a jumping knee to the face in the second round before stopping the fight at 2 minutes, 16 seconds in the third round following a right hand and a series of ground-and-pound strikes.

“Just staying tight in the pocket. Stuff we worked on and finally that right hand landed right on the money,” Tavares said in a postfight interview. “I felt like he was out already but I didn’t see the ref anywhere near so I had to finish the fight.”

Tavares called out former middleweight champion Michael Bisping after the fight, saying he wanted to fight at UFC 226 in Las Vegas in July.