Last night, at UFC 128 "Shogun vs. Jones," Jim Miller made a statement in front of his home state of New Jersey, effectively making clear that he deserves a top ranking in the lightweight division.

Prior to the bout, many viewed him as the heavy favorite against Kamal Shalorus, despite the Iranian's spotless record.

It is spotless no more.

Miller won a very decisive, kickboxing oriented contest, solidifying his place among the 155-pound elite. The win marked his seventh in a row and 20 of 22 overall.

Here's a look at how he did the damn thing:

Round one saw the AMA Fight Club pupil open up with a heavy body kick. Shalorus was game though, and wasted no time exchanging a few flurries with his aggressive challenger. Miller was on point, however, firing back with much cleaner combinations.

The two lightweights would exchange lefts and rights, before Miller would catch Shalorus perfectly with a head kick -- and it didn't even phase him.

A guillotine attempt from Jim was quick to follow but to no avail. But it was clear after that first round that Miller meant business.

The second stanza saw him dominate his clearly over-matched foe, taking him down before transitioning to his back and threatening a rear-naked choke for the entirety of the round.

In the final frame, Miller was able to land several clean straight left hands. It looked more and more like it was only a matter of time and sure enough, the New Jersey native landed a huge left uppercut and followed it up with a devastating knee that put "The Prince of Persia" on his back. Quickly after Miller followed up with hammerfists and the referee would stop the fight with just a few minutes remaining in the contest. 

Now going 9-1 in the UFC and a winner of seven in a row, Miller feels it's his time for a title shot.

"That's seven in a row," Miller said. "That's seven in a row in arguably the toughest division in the UFC."

It's hard to argue against that kind of resume and this was exactly the kind of performance typical of a workman like Jim; one fitting of a fighter rising to the next level in his career.

The 155-pound title picture is still muddled as Frankie Edgar is set to take on Gray Maynard at UFC 130, while Anthony Pettis, should he defeat Clay Guida at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 13 Finale, has been promised the next place in line.

But Miller has to fit in somewhere at this point. He deserves it.