Elias Theodorou, former TUF winner & UFC middleweight, tragically passes away aged 34
It was recently confirmed by those close to Elias Theodorou, that the former UFC fighter has sadly passed away from cancer.
Elias Theodorou won ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Canada vs. Australia’ in 2014, defeating Sheldon Westcott by second-round TKO to win the middleweight bracket. ‘The Spartan’ would go on to have a successful UFC tenure, holding an 8-3 record and wins over the likes of Eryk Anders and Sam Alvey and only ever falling to long-time contenders, Thiago Santos, Derek Brunson and Brad Tavares.
The Canadian would part ways with the UFC following his 2019 loss to Derek Brunson, later ending his career on a three-fight win streak fighting on the regional scene in Canada and America.
Theodorou was also a vocal advocate for the use of medical cannabis, and in 2020, became the first professional athlete in North America to be granted a medical expectation for the use of marijuana.
“Then factor in what I do—a lot of punching and kicking. Wear-and-tear and damage both as patient and athlete compounds,” he said to Forbes in 2021. “Cannabis works best as a form of pain management, especially compared to the first-line alternatives.”
“Unfortunately U.S. athletes don’t have the same ability to argue medical rights, and definitely not medical cannabis rights,” he says. “I’m looking forward to showing them the blueprint I’ve used both in BC and Canada-wide, but also opening those doors and that conversation beyond Canada.”
TSN reported that Theodorou had been battling stage 4 liver cancer but did not make his diagnosis widely known. It would be later confirmed by MMA News that Theodorou had last his battle, tragically passing away on Sunday evening.
Below is Theodorou’s most recent performance, a winning effort against Bryan Baker.
