Tim Elliot Blames Weight Cut On Loss To Demetrious Johnson

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Tim Elliot blamed a tough weight cut process on his loss to Demetrious Johnson at the TUF 24 Finale. It looked as though Elliot might have won in the first round, but Johnson survived and later beat him by unanimous decision. Here are highlights:

On the weight cut process: “The weight cut killed me. The morning of the weigh-ins I was hurting pretty bad. The first time I’ve ever told my coaches I was done. I told James Krause I wasn’t going back in the sauna, told him I would give up the 20 percent, I didn’t care about the belt. He made me get back in there, he made me cut the weight, and I appreciate that he did that…I was hurting after the first round. Not my cardio but my muscles, my stomach. I was cramping a little bit and I know that’s from the weight cut.”

On wanting to move up: “I’d like to go up to [bantamweight]… Everything about this sport is fun for me. I do it because it’s fun. It doesn’t pay that well, so I feel like I could really compete at 135. I’ll do better there when I feel good and I feel strong.”

On what Dana White said about his future: “He told me I wasn’t going anywhere but I got told that before. Sean Shelby told me after my John Dodson fight that if I fight like that I’ll always have a job in the UFC. Then a couple fights later, I was cut. But I don’t really care too much about that. If they don’t want me here then I can get fired here and I’ll go fight somewhere else. I’m going to fight no matter what. It doesn’t matter if it’s for the UFC or anywhere else, I’m going to go out on my shield and give it everything I’ve got.”