Chris de la Rocha’s UFC debut didn’t last as long as he hoped.
The mixed martial arts fighter from Washougal was beaten by Daniel Omielanczuk in 48 seconds Saturday at UFC Fight Night 72 in Glasgow, Scotland.
The heavyweight undercard bout saw Omielanczuk put de la Rocha on his heels from the start.
After right-handed blow knocked de la Rocha down, Omielanczuk pounced on top and started pounding away with rapid punches that forced the referee to stop the fight.
De la Rocha only had three weeks to prepare for his debut in the top tier of mixed martial arts. An injury to another fighter opened the door for de la Rocha.
“Obviously it sucks losing, but hey, it happens, and you build on it and you move on,” de la Rocha said. “Next time, it would be nice to know what we’re coming up against and get a full camp in. But I felt pretty good coming in here. It happens, you know.”
De la Rocha, 36, fell to 4-1 since his first professional bout in 2013. Omielanczuk, from Poland, improved to 17-5-1.
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