Fighting for the first time in more than two years, Diego Ferreira made his octagon homecoming an impressive one in front of fans in his adopted home state.

An emotional Ferreira (13-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) shut down Jared Gordon (14-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) with a first-round TKO. The end came at the 1:58 mark of the fight.

The lightweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 126 event at Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of the main card on FS1.

Quickly into the fight, Ferreira threw a big kick and caught Gordon low. Although he was wincing, Gordon wanted to get back started much faster than the five minutes he was allotted. But it didn’t take Ferreira long to catch Gordon in the mommy-daddy parts again. Referee Dan Miragliotta gave Ferreira what he called a “hard warning” instead of taking a point away.

When they got going again, Gordon seemed energized and tried to get the fight to the canvas. He couldn’t, and seconds later Ferreira dropped Gordon with a big left hook to the chin. He followed him to the canvas and landed punches, then stepped over to full mount.

Once Gordon rolled over and Ferreira took his back, he masterfully pinned Gordon’s left arm behind him and held it there. Then he started dropping bombs. It didn’t take Miragliotta long after that to shut things down.

“It’s been two years of my life, but things happen for a reason,” Ferreira said. “Right now I’m back and stronger than ever. I just wanted to be healthy to come back and do it again.”

Ferreira won for the second straight time. Gordon had a five-fight winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in the UFC.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 126 results include:

• Diego Ferreira def. Jared Gordon via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:58
• Geoff Neal def. Brian Camozzi via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:48
• Roberto Sanchez def. Joby Sanchez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:50
• Lucie Pudilova def. Sarah Moras via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
• Alex Morono def. Josh Burkman via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:21
• Oskar Piechota def. Tim Williams via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:54

For complete covearge of UFC Fight Night 126, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Austin.)