It’s not every day that a fighter accuses his opponent of domestic violence in the middle of a fight. And yet, that’s what happened Saturday night between Tim Elliott and Jordan Espinosa at UFC 259.
Toward the end of the second round of their flyweight fight at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Elliott smothered Espinosa with his elbow and arm from top position. At that point, Elliott began talking to his opponent. Their conversation was picked up by cageside microphones for viewers to hear on the broadcast.
“I heard you choked a girl in 2018. Are you a woman beater?” Elliott said.
“You don’t know the whole story,” Espinosa responded.
“I know enough,” Elliott said.
Espinosa ended the exchange by telling Elliott, “You don’t know sh*t” before the horn sounded.
He was calling him a woman beater 😬 pic.twitter.com/UCgYs2Dv11
— Lo (@LouBerryB) March 7, 2021
In his post-fight news conference, Elliott – who won by unanimous decision – explained he’d received a message on Facebook that contained pictures of a woman “with choke marks on her neck” allegedly caused by Espinosa. Elliott didn’t reveal who sent him the message.
In response, Espinosa’s manager, Bryan Hamper of SuckerPunch Ent., issued a statement to MMA Junkie denouncing Elliott’s actions.
“We will not be commenting on Tim Elliott’s accusations,” Hamper said. “It is extremely unfortunate that an athlete who has no information of the situation is given a platform to recklessly slander another athlete with no credible information other than a (Facebook) message. It sets a dangerous precedent allowing this type of behavior to make headlines. Words matter.”
For his part, Elliott said it was not his intention for the world to hear his conversation with Espinosa, whom he used to train with at Glory MMA and Fitness in Lee’s Summit, Mo., near Kansas City.
“I didn’t say that for anybody else to hear, because I don’t know the whole story,” Elliott said. “… It wasn’t something I wanted the whole world to hear. That was supposed to be between he and I.”
