Chris de la Rocha (born May 15, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division. He most notably fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Background
De La Rocha was born in San Jose, California, United States. He started his MMA journey from a young age training in Jiu Jitsu where he won multiple grappling competitions. He started training in boxing 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 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 on June 9, 2018, at UFC 225, replacing Allen Crowder. He won the fight via technical knockout in round two.
De La Rocha faced Juan Adams 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 State correctional officer.
Mixed martial arts record
|-
|Loss
|align=center|5–3
|Juan Adams
|TKO (punches) |UFC on Fox: Lee vs. Iaquinta 2 | |align=center|3 |align=center|0:58 |Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | |- |Win | align=center| 5–2 | Rashad Coulter | TKO (punches) | UFC 225 | | align=center| 2 | align=center|3:53 | Chicago, Illinois, United States | |- |Loss | align=center| 4–2 | Adam Milstead | TKO (punches) | UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Garbrandt | | align=center| 2 | align=center|4:01 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Loss | align=center| 4–1 | Daniel Omielańczuk | TKO (punches) | UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Leites | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 0:48 |Glasgow, Scotland | |- | Win | align=center| 4–0 | Matt Kovacs | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Prime Fighting 5 | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 2:34 | Ridgefield, Washington, 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, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 2–0 | Richard Foster | Submission (armbar) | Prime Fighting | | align=center| 2 | align=center| 3:33 | Ridgefield, Washington, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 1–0 | Matt Howell | KO (punch) | Prime Fighting | | align=center| 1 | align=center|2:22 | Ridgefield, Washington, United States | |-
See also
List of male mixed martial artists
References
External links
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