{"id":458018,"date":"2022-09-12T07:30:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-12T14:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=458018"},"modified":"2022-09-13T08:12:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T15:12:40","slug":"mma-and-ufc-community-pays-tribute-to-elias-theodorou-after-canadian-fighter-passes-away-at-age-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/mma-and-ufc-community-pays-tribute-to-elias-theodorou-after-canadian-fighter-passes-away-at-age-34\/","title":{"rendered":"MMA and UFC community pays tribute to Elias Theodorou after Canadian fighter passes away at age 34"},"content":{"rendered":"

The MMA world was shocked to learn on Sunday night that Canadian MMA fighter Elias Theodorou had died.<\/a> He was just 34 years of age, and had been privately battling colon cancer.<\/p>\n

Theodorou, like many fight fans, became captivated by mixed martial arts after watching The Ultimate Fighter season 1 on Spike TV back in 2006. In 2011 he kicked off his professional MMA career on the Canadian circuit, fighting for Alberta’s Hard Knocks Fighting and Ontario’s Score Fighting Series. When Bellator rolled through Windsor, Ontario, Theodorou competed on the prelims.<\/p>\n

In 2013 Elias won middleweight titles in ECC and NAAFS, earning a spot on The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia. He would go on to win the TUF middleweight tournament, beating teammate Sheldon Westcott in the finals via KO in the second round. Over his tenure in the UFC<\/a> he went 8-3 with wins over Bruno Santos, Sam Alvey, Cezar Ferreira, and Eryk Anders.<\/p>\n

Released by the promotion<\/a> following a loss to Derek Brunson in 2019, Theodorou finished his career with a 3-0 run in the minors.<\/p>\n