Ilir Latifi didn't need long to make up for lost time.

In his return from a 17-month layoff, the light heavyweight rocked Ovince Saint Preux with a left hand before slapping on a standing guillotine choke that sent him to the shadow realm 3:48 into their tilt at UFC on FOX 28 in Orlando on Saturday.

Latifi rebounded from a knockout loss to Ryan Bader with the wild stoppage, one that prompted a callout of cageside divisional champ Daniel Cormier, who's currently scheduled to challenge heavyweight king Stipe Miocic at UFC 226.

The pair opened with a rather tentative duel on the feet, but Latifi needn't land more than one left hook to turn the tide. The blow sent Saint Preux reeling across the cage, and Latifi treated him to yet another anvil of a left hand before putting him to sleep with his first submission in nearly four years.

Saint Preux saw a three-fight win streak - all coming via stoppage - snapped, and his UFC record falls to 10-6 after just the second submission loss of his 33-fight career.