Chris Horodecki (16-3 MMA, 2-2 WEC) is the latest fighter to be released from Zuffa's lightweight roster.

The 23-year-old London, Ontario, Canada, native was submitted by Donald Cerrone at WEC 53 in the promotion's final event before ceding its talent to the UFC.

"One door closes and another one opens," Horodecki today told www.gameusd.com"I'll be back sooner than later."

The baby-faced striker went 2-2 in his stint with the WEC with wins over Danny Downes and Ed Ratcliff and losses to Cerrone and Anthony Njokuani.

The loss to Njokuani was particularly devastating. Six months after returning to the cage, Horodecki wound up on the wrong side of a highlight reel when Nojuanki knocked him out with a head kick in the first round of his promotion debut at WEC 45. Horodecki had spent a year-plus on the bench in the wake of the International Fight League's late 2008 collapse.

Fans often chided Horodecki as an undersized fighter in the 155-pound division, though he did not say whether he would continue to fight as a lightweight or drop a weight class to the 145-pound featherweight division.

Horodecki first turned heads at the tender age of 19 in the IFL. His technical striking won him his first seven outings in the team-based promotion and brought his professional record to 12-0. The streak was halted abruptly in his eighth appearance when veteran Ryan Schultz pounded him out in December 2007.

"Get back in it," an optimistic Horodecki said when asked of his next move. "We'll get a couple fights and do what we do."