Las Vegas, NV – Even though UFC flyweight Tim Elliot has a big fight on his hands against Victor Altamirano at UFC Vegas 74 on Saturday night, most of the talk was about his personal life, and it’s something that he says helped him.
“I got a lot of support I guess you could say. I’m not happy or sad about it. I felt that it was something that I needed to do (share it with the world). Again it wasn’t to take a stab at anybody. It was more for my own personal issues I guess,” Elliot told reporters on Wednesday.
“It helped at the time of finding out.”
The news Elliot shared that his ex-wife Gina Mazany, a former UFC fighter herself, had allegedly cheated on him on his wedding day with former training partner and current UFC fighter Kevin Croom, commanded any headlines that had to do with Elliot for the past couple of weeks.
When Elliot found out it took a toll on his mental and physical health as he shared with reporters.
“When I first left for Texas I was walking around at 128 pounds. Couldn’t finish a practice without being injured. I was just frail. Here just the other day I was 152 so my weight’s back up. My spirits are back up, and I’m able to actually be a good training partner and a teammate for my team which is important to me,” he said.
Getting the stress of himself by sharing the news on social media was something that ended up helping Elliot get past the whole situation.
“It really was (helpful). The thing is I was the only one wearing it. My ex and the person that she is with now they were living in my city dating, being cool, and everybody thought that we separated because…I don’t know she said that I wanted to force her to move to Texas. Or she said that we separated because…I dont even know what the reasons were,” he said.
“But it wasn’t the reasons that were the real reasons. Then I would come to my city, where I live, where my home is at and people were telling me ‘Oh heard you and Gina split up because of this’ and then every interview they were asking me ‘How’s Gina? How are you guys doing’?”
Instead of putting everything out there at the time Elliot chose to still protect his privacy and her’s as well.
“I was lying and making up excuses to protect these guys, and every time I did that it was hurting me. After it got out there nobody was asking me anymore. I was shelling up. I wasn’t able to be a good dad, and I felt like not a great person before,” he said.
“I felt like not a great fighter before, but I’ve never not felt like not a great dad. So that was something that I had to change for myself and I had to change for my daughter. After releasing it and getting a bunch of support, I’m good. I’m feeling like I’m back to my normal self again.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Tim Elliot above. He takes on Victor Altamirano at UFC Vegas 74 on Saturday night.
