Geoff Neal made his “Handz of Steel” nickname applicable against Brian Camozzi, but it was a well-time choke that got the job done for him.

Neal (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) forced Camozzi (7-5 MMA, 0-3 UFC) to tap at the 2:48 mark of the first round with a rear-naked choke up against the fence. The fight was Neal’s UFC debut.

The welterweight bout was part of 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.

Neal got a big reception from his home Austin fans, then came charging across at Camozzi with a big combination. Camozzi played defense and tied Neal up to slow his offense, but soon enough tey were back to the middle throwing bombs. Neal found a home for many of his, including a big left behind Camozzi’s right ear a couple minutes in.

Midway through, Neal pushed Camozzi to the cage and worked for a choke. Although he was cut badly above his right eye from one of the earlier exchanges, Neal bullied Camozzi to one knee. Then he sank in a rear-naked choke with Camozzi’s right side pressed against the fence. With the bulldog-style choke tightly on, Camozzi had to tap.

“It feels great,” Neal said. “It’s been hard leading up to this fight camp – struggling with money, and the job. I’m just glad I got the win. I think I hit him on the way in, and he hit me, and I was hurt. I was like, ‘Man, I need to do something quick.’ I saw his neck, and I grabbed it, and that was a wrap. I knew he was going to tap – I’m too strong.”

Neal won for the third straight time, including a TKO win on Dana White’s Contender Series this past July to get his shot at the UFC. He has wins in seven of his past eight. Camozzi, younger brother of UFC veteran Chris Camozzi, has lost three straight – all in the UFC.

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

• 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.)