UFC fighter Tim Elliott is drawing support from the MMA community leading up to his next fight.
The last couple of months have been difficult for UFC flyweight Tim Elliott. Elliott came to the UFC back in 2012 and rose to a UFC title fight following his time on The Ultimate Fighter. He also found love in the UFC when he married fellow fighter Gina Mazany. However, that relationship has since fallen apart when Mazany cheated on Elliott with his trainer and friend. Elliott decided to take this news public and posted it on his social media which caught traction in the MMA community.
Elliott detailed in a now-deleted post how his wife Mazany cheated on him with his good friend and fellow fighter Kevin Croom. He stated that the relationship has been going on the entirety of their marriage and that she even cheated on him on their wedding night. Now Elliott is set to return to the Octagon after a long lay-off and is speaking out about this difficult time in his life.
Tim Elliott is drawing support from the MMA community
Elliott explained that going public with his situation was not a form of revenge but more a form of therapy. He explained that he was being asked over and over about his ex-wife and friend to which he was lying and wanted to clear the air. He spoke about this during media day.
“People were telling me, ‘Oh I heard you and Gina split up because of this or because of this’, and then every interview they were asking me, ‘How’s Gina, how are you guys doing?’ I was lying and making up excuses to protect these guys and every time I did that, it was hurting me,” he said. “After it got out there and nobody was asking me anymore and I was getting like ‘Oh, you’re gonna corner Kevin Croom in his next Bare Knuckle fight again?’ And I had to be like, Oh, no, you know, we’re not really cool anymore. No, no, Gina and I aren’t really together anymore. And they would ask why and I was like searching to make up excuses and lying for them to protect them at the same time that was hurting myself.”
Elliott is thankful to the MMA community for their support during this difficult time and now with a change of gyms and living situation, he feels more at peace with himself after going public with the news and receiving support from his fans.
“The MMA community can be kind of mean and kind of cruel. So, I got a little bit of that, but for the most part, everybody was really supportive,” he said. “I ended up pulling the post down I think after 9 million people went across my Twitter. But the support that I was getting was great from the MMA community, but a lot of it was guys who had went through something similar…It actually made me feel better and yeah, honestly, I don’t know if I wouldn’t have made it to the fight without, you know, feeling better because where I was at wasn’t a good spot.”
Elliott will be facing Victor Altamirano in the upcoming UFC Fight Night event on Saturday, June 3. This will be his first fight in the UFC since March of last year when he won a unanimous decision victory over Tagir Ulanbekov at UFC 272. Elliott is currently ranked number 11 in the flyway division.
