Chris de la Rocha (born May 15, 1979) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

who competes in the Heavyweight division. He most notably fought in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Background

De La Rocha was born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

, United States. He started his MMA journey from a young age training in

Jiu Jitsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subd ...

where he won multiple grappling competitions. He started training in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

in 2010 and went on to compete in the 2010 Western States Police and Fire Games where he won the Boxing gold medal. With that win, he decided to transitional to compete in

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

De La Rocha made his professional debut in 2013 under Prime Fighting and defeated Matt Howell via knockout in the first round. After four fight winning streak He was signed by UFC with a record of 4–0.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

De La Rocha made his promotional debut on July 18, 2015 at UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Leites against Daniel Omielanczuk replacing Konstantin Erokhin. He lost the fight via technical knockout in first round. His second fight came on May 29, 2016 at UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Garbrandt against Adam Milstead. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the second round. After a hiatus of 18 months, suffering from a bicep injury, Rocha returned to face

Rashad Coulter Orlando Rashad Coulter (born November 27, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2011, he has also competed f ...

on June 9, 2018 at

UFC 225 ''UFC 225: Whittaker vs. Romero 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on June 9, 2018, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Background A UFC Middleweight Championship bout between ...

, replacing Allen Crowder. He won the fight via technical knockout in round two. De La Rocha faced

Juan Adams Juan Alejandro Arcienego-Adams (born January 16, 1992) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and currently competes in the heavyweight division of the PFL. Adams formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Backgroun ...

on December 15, 2018 at UFC on Fox 31. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the third round. In February 2021, it was reported that Chris and UFC had parted ways.

Personal life

Rocha is a

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

State correctional officer.

Mixed martial arts record

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Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

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Daniel Omielańczuk Daniel Omielańczuk (born August 31, 1982) is a Polish professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently competing in the Heavyweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). A professional MMA competitor since 2009, he has competed ...

, TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Leites , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 ,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Matt Kovacs , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Prime Fighting 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:34 ,

Ridgefield, Washington Ridgefield is a city in northern Clark County, Washington, Clark County, Washington (state), Washington. The population was 10,319 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 4,763 in 2010 United States census, 2010, making ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , D.J. Linderman , TKO (punches) , WFC 25: Brawl at the Beach , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:26 ,

Lincoln City, Oregon Lincoln City is a city in Lincoln County on the Oregon Coast of the United States, between Tillamook and Newport. It is named after the county, which was named in honor of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. The population was 9,815 at the 2 ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Matt Howell , KO (punch) , Prime Fighting , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:22 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocha, Chris de la 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Washington (state) American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from San Jose, California Mixed martial artists from California People from Washougal, Washington Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male boxers