Faber (28-6) got his career back on track with an impressive victory over Menjivar (25-11). With his home-state crowd behind him, Faber took early control on the ground and then finished Menjivar by clinging to his back and wrapping both legs around his standing opponent, forcing Menjivar to tap out while on his feet with 26 seconds left in the opening round.
"Ivan is a very crafty veteran," Faber said. "I just attacked the neck. He let me hold on too long, and that was that."
Although Faber has a huge fan following for his years of success in other promotions, he was just 2-2 since moving to the UFC two years ago, dropping narrow decisions to bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and Renan Barao.
Robbie Lawler stopped Josh Koscheck with 1:03 left in the first round with a series of strikes, earning the knockout of the night award in his first UFC fight since October 2004. Court McGee also beat Josh Neer by unanimous decision in his welterweight debut.
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