Tim Elliott blasts Jordan Espinosa amid dominant beatdown at UFC 259: 'Little woman beater'
LAS VEGAS — Tim Elliott and Jordan Espinosa once were teammates, and Elliott specifically asked to fight Espinosa on Saturday at UFC 259.
As they were grappling on the floor near the end of the second round, a bizarre conversation ensued between them which may explain why Elliott wanted the fight.
Elliott, who was in the top position, said to Espinosa, “I heard you choked a girl in 2018. Little woman beater. Little f***ing woman beater.”
Espinosa said, “You don’t know the whole story,” to which Elliott replied, “I know enough.” Espinosa said, “You don’t know s***,” and the round ended.
Well, this was interesting. pic.twitter.com/NvhpmBtIJa
— MS (@UFC_Obsessed) March 7, 2021
Yahoo Sports searched but was unable to find any court or police records implicating Espinosa, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in any incident of domestic violence.
Judging by Elliott’s request to fight Espinosa and by the conversation between them, Elliott believes something occurred. After the fight, Elliott told reporters he had received a Facebook message from a girl with choke marks on her throat. Via Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review Journal:
"I didn't say that for anybody else to hear because I don't know the whole story," Elliott said. "It was kind of disturbing, the whole thing.
"This is the first fight that was ever personal to me. I wanted to hurt the guy. I let my emotions get the best of me because of the message I received."
That wasn’t the only strange conversation between them during the bout. When the fight began, Elliott complained to referee Mark Smith that Espinosa’s body had grease on it, and he made a show of wiping his hands on his shorts.
Whatever the truth, Elliott got a measure of revenge when he won the fight in dominating fashion by scores of 30-27 twice and 30-25.
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