Che Mills (Pictures) put on a superb performance Saturday at Cage Rage 26.

He battered and frustrated London Shoot standout Marius Zaromskis (Pictures) throughout the first round en route to claiming the organization's vacant British welterweight title after a cut stoppage.

"It feels great," Mills told Sherdog.com when asked how it felt to be recognized as one of the best in the sport. "I've wanted to be a champion since I was a kid."

In their first battle, a vicious barrage of strikes from the Gloucester fighter left Zaromskis knocked out after a brawling exchange. Consequently, the pressure was on Mills to perform in the rematch.

However, even considering his opponent's run of impressive form going into the contest, Mills seemed unconcerned by the matchup.

"I felt quite confident actually, especially after the first fight," he said. "He shot in on me in my first fight, so I knew he was wary of my standup, especially after knocking him out the first time."

As Mills predicted, a brief taste of the standup game prompted Zaromskis to shoot in -- a tactic rarely employed by the brutal Lithuanian kickboxer. As the fighters clinched, though, Mills aimed some hard elbows at his opponent's head, leading the London Shoot corner to erupt in protest.

"I threw the same elbow in the first fight," Mills said. "I did the same thing again, not really to hurt him, more just to put him off the takedown a little bit. I heard his corner shouting ‘illegal elbows,' but even [the referee] shouted back, ‘No, they're not.' And told me to carry on basically."

Though his opponent suffered a terrible gash to his lower eyelid, which left a horrible slice of skin flapping in front of his face, Mills did not know that Zaromskis was bleeding until the end of the round.

"I remember catching him with a punch, and that's what everybody's saying cut his eye," the new British champion explained. "As soon as I hit him, I remember him shooting in to try and take me down. That's probably the hardest shot I landed on him."

After the fight, Mills had hardly wiped the sweat from his face before facing the cheerful, if not slightly foulmouthed challenge of one of Britain's best and most accomplished fighters in EliteXC veteran Paul "Semtex" Daley.

"I think he's in love with me!" Mills said with a laugh as he tried to explain why Daley might want to challenge him.

"He's supposed to be the world champion, so why is he challenging the British champion? I thought it was supposed to be the other way round," Mills remarked before adding with a tone of genuine bewilderment: "I could understand if I called him out, but he was there before I even finished my interview!"

Although Daley is seen as the more accomplished fighter in the view of most observers, would Mills be prepared to take up the challenge of such an experienced and well-respected campaigner?

"Oh yeah, I'd fight him!" the Range fighter replied instantly. "We could fight next week if he wanted to. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's not good, but I think he thinks he's better than he is, in his own head. I think he'd be a bit too overconfident with me. I don't think he can hit as hard as me either. So with my reach as well in the standup, I think he'd get knocked out. Whether it be first round or third round, I think he'd get knocked out before the end."

After such an impressive performance against one of the United Kingdom's most respected fighters in Zaromskis, critics and supporters alike have immediately begun to question where Mills stands in terms of rankings in the U.K. The exciting prospect, however, is not about to start bragging about where he stands in the welterweight pecking order.

"I don't think it's for me to say really," he said. "I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and try to be the best I can really and leave it to other people to decide. It's not really me to say, ‘I'm the best,' and all this. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing basically."

However humble he may be, Mills has set himself a mountain to climb in the shape of the welterweight division. As his willingness to face the likes of Daley may suggest, the Gloucester fighter is prepared to take on all comers on his quest.

"I just want to be the best I can be," he said. "And as they say, you can't be the best unless you fight the best. I want to fight all of them. It's about testing yourself all the time."