LAS VEGAS – Tim Elliott and Jordan Espinosa were once teammates, and Elliott specifically asked to fight Espinosa on Saturday at UFC 259.
As they fought on the ground 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 first place, said to Espinosa: “I heard that you strangled a girl in 2018. Female scout. Little woman beater. “
Espinosa said, “You don’t know the whole story,” to which Elliott replied, “I know enough.” Espinosa said, “You don’t fucking know”, and the round is over.
Yahoo Sports did a search, but was unable to find any judicial or police records that implicated Espinosa, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in any domestic violence incident.
Judging by Elliott’s request to fight Espinosa and the conversation between them, Elliott believes that something has happened. After the fight, Elliott told reporters that he received a Facebook message from a girl with throat strangulation marks. Via Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review Journal:
“I didn’t say that to anyone to hear it because I don’t know the whole story” Elliott said. “It was kind of disturbing, the whole thing.
“This is the first fight that has ever been personal to me. I wanted to hurt the guy. I let my emotions get the best of me because of the message I got.”
This was not the only strange conversation between them during the fight. When the fight started, Elliott complained to referee Mark Smith that Espinosa’s body was dirty with grease and he pretended to wipe his hands on his shorts.
Whatever the truth, Elliott had a measure of revenge when he won the fight by dominating fashion 30-27 twice and 30-25.
More from Yahoo Sports: