John Cholish  John Cholish (born December 17, 1983) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2006 until 2013, he competed for the UFC and Strikeforce. Cholish made his professional MMA debut in September 2007. He lost his first fight via submission, but won his next seven fights before signing with the UFC. Cholish made his Strikeforce debut in February 2011 as part of the preliminary card for . He defeated The Ultimate Fighter veteran Marc Stevens via submission (kneebar) in the second round. Cholish drew considerable attention from MMA news sites for the submission due to its rarity. Cholish made his promotional debut against Mitch Clarke on December 10, 2011 at UFC 140. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. Cholish faced Danny Castillo on May 5, 2012 at UFC on Fox 3. He was defeated by Castillo via unanimous decision. Cholish was expected to face Yves Edwards on December 8, 2012 at UFC on Fox 5. However, Cholish was forced out of the bout with a groin injury and replaced by Jeremy Stephens. Cholish next faced Gleison Tibau on May 18, 2013 at UFC on FX 8. He lost the fight via submission in the second round. After the fight Cholish retired from MMA, citing low pay as the reason for his retirement. Cholish, a Cornell University graduate, holds a full-time job with the Marex Spectron which brokers commodities of natural gas crude oil on the institutional platform.