Athletes
Tim Elliott: "This Is Going To Be One For The Books"
Flyweight Tim Elliott Is Eager To Return To The Octagon And Put On A Show Versus Victor Altamirano At UFC Fight Night: Kara-France vs Albazi
It’s been over a year since Tim Elliott has graced the Octagon. Where has the flyweight contender been?
“I've been injured and in the dark,” said Elliott, and it’s a typical response from someone who used to call his training team “Strange Little Men.” So when does he start to see some light?
“Well, June 3rd, I'll get to see a little flash of light, hopefully.”
June 3rd is when he makes his first start since a win over Tagir Ulanbekov in March of 2022, and that’s not surprising, considering that when he’s in a fight, nothing else matters. At the same time, though, it’s all that matters when it comes to his future, and that of his daughter, Sterling.
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“I f**king love to fight,” Elliott said. “There's not a guy on the UFC roster that likes to fight more than me. I would do it in the parking lot if it wouldn't get me in trouble. It's just something I'm good at, something I enjoy to do. But right now, it's all about trying to make money, stack up some wins, stack up some money and take care of my daughter.”
This weekend, Victor Altamirano is the fighter tasked with keeping the No.11-ranked contender from doubling his paycheck. It’s the kind of fight that is all upside for the unranked Altamirano and not so much for Elliott, who isn’t too concerned with such matters.
“For me, it's about stylistic matchups,” he said. “And the good thing about Victor Altamirano, stylistically, is that it’s an exciting matchup for me and it's a fun fight and it's a fight where I can really go out and fight my style. I was going to fight Allan Nascimento, and it was going to be hard for me to fight the way I really want to fight and still be safe with him. So it would've been a more boring fight to fight, and it wouldn't be my fault, really. It takes two guys to fight, and you have to fight him differently. So, I'm excited. I had three different opponents and three different venues and three different times, and I said yes to all of them, luckily, and then ended up getting the date that I wanted and the guy that I wanted.”
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With that business secured and his body fight-ready, it was off to address the “dark,” which may or may not have been a series of events that included the end of a relationship, a move from his home in Missouri, and getting used to a new camp with UFC / PRIDE veteran Chris Brennan. Yes, the fighter who used to train with “Strange Little Men” is now working with “The Westside Strangler.”
“With the whole James Krause thing, I still talk to him,” he said of his longtime coach, who is currently suspended, forcing Elliott to find new training digs. “He's still one of my best friends and he has been my mentor for most of my life. I asked him what he thought, and he told me this is where I needed to be. So this is where I came. I would have stayed in Kansas City. Zak Cummings has a gym up there, and Trey Ogden has a gym. They both split off from Glory and they opened their own gyms, and they have fight teams. And I was still cross training there when I'm in Kansas City, but I had to get out of Kansas City and do what was best for me. So Next Generation, this was the spot James told me about, and as soon as James told me, I packed my s**t and came this way.”
Elliott hasn’t looked back since, and while it isn’t easy being away from his daughter for training camps, the timing is right for them to have a relaxing summer before dad gets ready to go back to work again. And yeah, he’s missed fighting for the last 15 months as much as he’s missing Sterling now.
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“I've missed it every day,” Elliott said. “My favorite part of the day is going into the gym and mixing it up. I'll always miss fighting. Even though I have it right now, I miss it. I think about it when I'm not doing it. And when I'm doing it, I'm thinking about it. So other than my kid, fighting is the best thing in my life. And this is going to be one where I've been working some pretty cool stuff, some weird stuff and some fun stuff. It might get me knocked out, but it might give me a bonus check, too. So, I promise you, this is going to be one for the books.”
UFC Fight Night: Kara-France vs Albazi took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 3, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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