Las Vegas, Nevada — The UFC 259 preliminary card bout between Jordan Espinosa and Tim Elliott took a dark turn at the end of the second round.
That’s when Elliott could be overheard accusing Espinosa of being a “woman beater.”
Well, this was interesting. pic.twitter.com/NvhpmBtIJa
— MS (@UFC_Obsessed) March 7, 2021
“You a woman beater? You a f*cking woman beater?” Elliott was overheard saying, while having a forearm on Espinosa’s throat. Elliott was caught on mic alluding to someone reaching out to him on social media with accusations against Espinosa — who replied that Elliott didn’t have the whole story.
While he hadn’t intended for the comments to be heard, Elliott, who won the bout via a one-sided unanimous decision, opened up about them following the fight.
“I didn’t say that for anybody else to hear, because I don’t know the whole story,” stated Elliott, speaking back stage at the UFC Apex. The flyweight added that he was messaged prior to the fight on Facebook, though he wasn’t willing to state by who. What came his way were photos of a girl. “A long message with some pictures and some snapchat back-and-forth between Jordan Espinosa and another girl. Pictures of her with choke marks on her neck. Again, I don’t know the whole story.”
Elliott, however, was hit hard, given his role as a father. “It wasn’t something I wanted the whole world to hear. That was supposed to be between him and I. I didn’t know the mic was going to pick up on it,” he said. “But it was kind of disturbing, the whole thing. I have a daughter. This was the only fight I’ve had out of all my fights that was personal. It was hard for me to maintain my cool, it was hard for me to keep my cardio in check because of it.”
Reiterating that he didn’t want to go into too much detail, Elliott added that “it’s not something I’m proud of to say, that everybody could hear. But again, I’m glad that it’s out there, if it’s true. That’s why I didn’t say anything on the internet, because I don’t know. I know people lie. But it was pretty disturbing, the things that I was messaged, the pictures that I received.”
Another moment also turned heads in Elliott vs. Espinosa on Saturday night. That came when Elliott essentially rubbed blood in his opponent’s eyes. That move wasn’t a response to the abuse allegations, said Elliott. “That was my coach. My coach said ‘your blood is going right in his face, use it.’ He’s smart. It worked. It helped. I’m out here trying to win, whatever it takes, at all costs. In the legality, within the rules, whatever it takes.”
That said, Elliott admitted that, given the allegations presented to him about Espinosa, “I wanted to hurt the guy. This is the first time I’ve ever fought somebody I wanted to hurt.”
Watch the full UFC 259 post-fight press scrum with Tim Elliott above.
