UFC star who accused MMA fighter wife of cheating with teammate explains how fans helped him get ove
By James Austin
UFC star Tim Elliott says fans helped him bounce back when his marriage fell apart earlier this year.
In May, the long-time flyweight contender publicly accused his MMA fighter wife, Gina Mazany, of having an affair with one of his teammates, ex-UFC fighter Kevin Croom.
Elliott claimed the betrayal was made worse by the fact it started on the day he married Mazany.
Several months later, the 36-year-old insists he didn’t try to shame Mazany and Croom by exposing their affair and instead spoke up to improve his mental health.
“I didn’t release anything I released to try to make Gina or Kevin look or feel bad because there was way more stuff,” Elliott told talkSPORT.com.
“I put a really PG version of what happened out. The depths of it are a lot worse than what I released. I didn’t do it for anyone but myself.
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“Now, looking back, I wish I could’ve just gotten over it without doing that, but I don’t know how long it would’ve taken to actually get past it.”
After telling his story, Elliott was comforted by fans who endured similar experiences and many people gave him tips on how to handle the situation.
He added: “I didn’t know how much that was going to help but it really did.
“To a point, and then it got too much where I had to read all the sad things that happened to these other guys.
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“I’m an emotional guy. I take on the feelings and thoughts that are around me, especially being a parent. So, I started feeling bad for these other people that were going stuff.
“So, I was like, ‘S***, man! This is kind of bringing me down as well.’ I had overwhelming support, for the most part, and I like to think that it did help me.
“I don’t know how long that would’ve affected me negatively had I not had the support I did and people coming out and letting me know things that helped them.
“I used a lot of advice from people. Not people I know, just random people on the internet like ‘Hey, I did this, and it really helped.’ I’m like, F*** it! I’ll try anything to try to feel better.’”
The American fight veteran is now just days away from facing Muhammad Mokaev at UFC 294.
Elliott hopes to give one of Britain’s brightest young talents, who is 10-0 in the sport, his first taste of defeat at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.
The 125lb duo will meet in the featured preliminary bout of a card headlined by a short-notice lightweight title rematch between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski.
A win for Elliott or Mokaev will move them one step closer to a shot at flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja.
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