Alan Jouban did what Ben Saunders couldn't at UFC on FOX 28: he put their friendship on hold.

The welterweight fan favorite battered Saunders' leg with an inside kick before starching him with a monstrous left hand at 2:38 of the second round to snap the first two-fight skid of his career on Saturday's bill in Orlando.

As predicted, the pair came out swinging from the opening bell, with Saunders looking to keep the fight in close quarters and score from the clinch while Jouban chopped away at his lead leg and found a home for his combinations.

After hobbling a resilient Saunders and rocking him on more than one occasion in the first round, the 35-year-old Jouban blitzed him with a barrage of standing elbows before landing the leg kick that led to the fight-ending haymaker midway through the second stanza.

The emphatic stoppage got Jouban back in the win column after being put away in both of his 2017 bouts, while Saunders has now been treated to two straight second-round knockouts.