Espinosa was also called a “woman beater” during his decision defeat to Elliott.
It’s not just Megan Anderson whose UFC career ended last Saturday night.
MMA Fighting confirmed on Thursday that flyweight Jordan Espinosa (15-9, 1 NC) has been cut after his unanimous decision loss to former title challenger Tim Elliott. While the actual fight itself was not particularly memorable, what was said between Elliott and Espinosa immediately raised eyebrows.
Towards the end of round two, the following exchange occurred and the audio was picked up during the UFC broadcast:
Elliott: You choked a girl in 2018. You’re a woman beater. You’re a f—ng woman beater. She messaged me.
Espinosa: It’s better to know the whole story.
Elliott: I know enough.
Espinosa: You don’t know shit.
Elliott did admit he doesn’t know the whole story but also said that this was the first time in his career that a fight became personal. Espinosa and his team did not comment on Elliott’s accusations but his manager said it was “extremely unfortunate” that Tim was “given a platform to recklessly slander another athlete with no credible information other than a (Facebook) message.”
We do not know if these accusations factored into Espinosa’s release, but he may have been on thin ice anyway given he entered the Elliott bout with just a 2-3 UFC record. He was signed off of Dana White’s Contender Series and won his debut against Eric Shelton, but dropped consecutive fights to Matt Schnell and Alex Perez by submission. After being Mark De La Rosa by decision, he lost to David Dvorak before his final bout vs. Elliott.
Staying with roster cut news but away from UFC 259, also gone from the promotion is flyweight Shana Dobson, whose 2-4 UFC record put her overall MMA mark at just 4-5. She did score a huge upset over Mariya Agapova in 2020 but her one-sided defeat to Casey O’Neill last month proved to be her last bout inside the Octagon for the foreseeable future.