Zak Ottow spoiled Mike Pyle’s retirement party and did what he promised with a first-round finish.

Ottow (16-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) stopped Pyle (27-14-1 MMA, 10-9 UFC) with a TKO in the first round after knocking him down with a big right hand. Pyle had said before the fight it would be his last, but he couldn’t go out with a win. Ottow got the stoppage at the 2:34 mark of the first frame.

The welterweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 222 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FS1 and a main card on pay-per-view.

“I (expletive) loved it. I loved every bit of it,” Pyle told Joe Rogan of his career after the fight.

Ottow threw a spinning kick early, but then was pushed back by a Pyle front kick. Not long after, Ottow pushed Pyle back with a left hand. They traded kicks to the body, but Ottow introduced a kick to Pyle’s lead leg.

But not long after that, after another leg kick from Ottow, Ottow landed a big right hand to the head and Pyle hit the canvas. Ottow went to the mat and landed big punches. Pyle covered up, then seemed to recover. But it was just momentarily. Ottow kept the pressure on, and soon after got the finish.

Ottow got back in the win column following a loss to Li Jingliang in November. He has alternated wins and losses his past five fights. Pyle lost for the third straight time and fifth time in six fights on his way out of the sport.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 222 results include:

• Zak Ottow def. Mike Pyle via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:34
• Cody Stamann def. Bryan Caraway via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jordan Johnson def. Adam Milstead via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC 222, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Las Vegas.)