Both sides respond to Tim Elliott and Jordan Espinosa’s ‘woman beater’ argument in UFC 259 fight

It’s not every day that a fighter accuses his opponent of domestic violence in the middle of a fight. And yet, that’s what happened Saturday night between Tim Elliott and Jordan Espinosa at UFC 259.

Toward the end of the second round of their flyweight fight at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Elliott smothered Espinosa with his elbow and arm from top position. At that point, Elliott began talking to his opponent. Their conversation was picked up by cageside microphones for viewers to hear on the broadcast.

“I heard you choked a girl in 2018. Are you a woman beater?” Elliott said.

“You don’t know the whole story,” Espinosa responded.

“I know enough,” Elliott said.

Espinosa ended the exchange by telling Elliott, “You don’t know sh*t” before the horn sounded.

In his post-fight news conference, Elliott – who won by unanimous decision – explained he’d received a message on Facebook that contained pictures of a woman “with choke marks on her neck” allegedly from Espinosa. Elliott didn’t reveal from whom he received the message.

In response, Espinosa’s manager, Bryan Hamper of SuckerPunch Ent., issued a statement to MMA Junkie denouncing Elliott’s actions.

“We will not be commenting on Tim Elliott’s accusations,” Hamper said. “It is extremely unfortunate that an athlete who has no information of the situation is given a platform to recklessly slander another athlete with no credible information other than a (Facebook) message. It sets a dangerous precedence allowing this type of behavior to make headlines. Words matter.”

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For his part, Elliott said it was not his intention for the world to hear his conversation with Espinosa, whom he used to train with at Glory MMA and Fitness in Lees Summit, Mo., near Kansas City.

“I didn’t say that for anybody else to hear, because I don’t know the whole story,” Elliott said during his post-fight news conference. “… It wasn’t something I wanted the whole world to hear. That was supposed to be between he and I.”