Early career Rosa made his amateur debut later that year in 2004 and made his professional debut in November 2005. Rosa compiled an undefeated record of 9–0 fighting on the local circuit before being signed by
ShoXC.
ShoXC Rosa made his promotional debut on July 27, 2007, at
ShoXC: Elite Challengers Series against Jefferson Silva and won via TKO. Rosa made his next appearance on October 26, 2007, against
Jared Hamman and was handed his first professional defeat via
rear-naked choke submission in the second round. Rosa then faced Jaime Fletcher on March 21, 2008, and was defeated again, via unanimous decision. Rosa was scheduled to fight
Seth Petruzelli, at
EliteXC: Heat, but Petruzelli was moved to the main event to fight
Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson after
Ken Shamrock had to pull out due to an injury.
Strikeforce After picking up a win under the
Adrenaline MMA banner, Rosa made his
Strikeforce debut at
Strikeforce Challengers: Evangelista vs. Aina on May 15, 2009, in a
Light Heavyweight bout against Anthony Ruiz. Rosa won via
rear-naked choke submission in the first round. Rosa made his next appearance on November 20, 2009, at
Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Bears against
Rafael Cavalcante. Rosa was defeated in the second round via TKO. At
Bellator 20 he defeated veteran Robert Villegas by unanimous decision. Rosa then defeated
The Ultimate Fighter 10 alumnus Abe Wagner via submission at
Titan FC 17: Lashley vs. Ott.
Ultimate Fighting Championship On May 13, 2011, it was announced that Rosa had signed with the
UFC. He made his debut against
Joey Beltran at
UFC 131. After a back-and-forth first two rounds, Rosa was stopped by Beltran by TKO in the third round. Rosa was expected to face
Fabio Maldonado in a
Light Heavyweight bout at
UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson. But Maldonado was forced to pull out of the bout due to an injury. Rosa instead faced promotional newcomer Matt Lucas on November 12, 2011, at
UFC on Fox 1. He won the fight via majority decision. Rosa had his next
Light Heavyweight bout against
James Te-Huna on March 3, 2012, at
UFC on FX 2. Rosa lost via TKO in the first round and was subsequently released from the promotion.
Bellator After his release from the
UFC, Rosa made his return to
Bellator at
Bellator 103 on October 11, 2013, facing
Mikhail Zayats. Rosa was defeated 47 seconds into the first round via submission.
Return to MMA After more the 9 years away from the sport, Rosa made his return against
Juan Adams at Fury FC 56 on February 6, 2022. Rosa lost the bout in the first round via ground and pound TKO. ==Personal life==