Julian Erosa got the ending every fighter dreams about. The veteran featherweight closed out his UFC career on Saturday night at the Apex, stopping JeongYeong Lee by knockout just 1:31 into the first round of their prelim bout at UFC Vegas 123.

It did not come easy. Multiple outlets, including Cageside Press and MMA News, reported that Erosa was rocked and nearly finished early in the fight before turning things around with a single counter right hand that put Lee away. It was pure chaos for a minute, and then it was over, with Erosa the last man standing in his own farewell fight.

Erosa had told the world beforehand that this was it, win, lose or draw, according to MMA Fighting. He got his storybook finish instead. Yahoo Sports noted he went in as the underdog against Lee, which makes the finish land even harder as a going away gift to himself.

The numbers back up just how competitive this one was expected to be. Our Elo model had Erosa rated at 1520 across seven tracked bouts, with Lee sitting at 1500 off four. Lee now takes the loss after falling to Erosa by knockout, a tough way to end a close-on-paper matchup.

Fans on r/MMA picked up on the backstory well before fight night, with one thread pointing out that Erosa had revealed his plans to move his family from Las Vegas back to his hometown of Yakima, Washington, to help his mother run her business. That context turned what could have been just another UFC prelim into a proper send off.

Erosa leaves the UFC on his own terms, finishing a career that included plenty of wild, back-and-forth nights, with one final highlight to close the book.