American fighter Tony Gravely scored a thumping 68-second knockout Saturday in the UFC

• American fighter Tony Gravely scored a 68-second knockout Saturday at the Apex in Las Vegas.
• During a post-fight speech, Gravely said he'd have killed his opponent if it weren't for the ref.

LAS VEGAS — American fighter Tony Gravely scored a thunderous finish during the UFC prelims on ESPN+ before stating he "came here to kill this man" in his post-match speech.

Gravely fought bantamweight rival Johnny Munoz Jr. on Saturday at the 14-bout UFC card inside the Apex, Las Vegas, and left the arena with a quickfire win.

Munoz began the fight with confidence by throwing a good kick to the body but as he ducked, as if to shoot for a take down, Gravely countered him with an uppercut.

Gravely then attacked Munoz with follow-up shots even though the match had already been won by that point and the referee Chris Tognini had to separate the fighters.

Gravely limited Munoz to landing just two strikes from seven attempts while hitting him with six from 16 but that was all that was needed to get the job done.

It was all over.

Gravely remained in the Octagon to offer post-fight comments that aired live on ESPN+, but began his speech by saying: "I've been telling my wife this entire time, 'I came here to kill this man.'

"If the ref hadn't pulled me off, I would have," he added.

Regarding the finish, Gravely said: "I knew he was shooting in, I threw it … and it worked."

Watch the finish:

With victory, 30-year-old Gravely advanced his pro MMA record to 22 wins (nine knockouts, three submissions, and 10 decisions) against seven losses.

Earlier in the show, a UFC match looked like a horror film after Rinat Fakhretdinov's elbow strike caused a laceration so nasty, Andreas Michailidis' ear erupted blood like lava flow from a volcano.

Heavyweight fighters Alexander Volkov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik headlined the UFC Fight Night event.