A completely unexpected and very sad news arrived from overseas this morning. Canadian fighter Elias Theodorou, who fought in a cage in one of the smaller American MMA organizations at the end of last year, succumbed to an aggressive form of cancer at the age of just 34.
This overwhelming fact was announced on his Twitter account by TSN reporter Aaron Bronsteter, who mentioned, among other things, that the Canadian managed to keep this diagnosis a secret from almost everyone. “Theodora fought privately with stage four liver cancer. He only informed a select group of people about it.”
“Theodorou last fought in December against Bryan Baker, where he took great pride in becoming the first professional athlete ever to receive a medical cannabis exemption in North America (first in Canada and then in the US). He devoted a lot of his time and resources to this cause, and his legacy to cannabis-using athletes will be preserved for many years to come.”
Sadly, a representative of Elias Theodorou has confirmed earlier reports that he has passed away at age 34.
Theodorou was privately battling Stage 4 liver cancer and had only told a select group of people of his diagnosis.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) September 12, 2022
“Rest in peace, Elias. He was a great athlete with a wonderful sense of humor and a smile that would light up a room.”
Theodorou has been involved in MMA since college and in 2011 jumped into his first professional fight. After a great streak of 8 wins (including one in Bellator) and no defeats, he was invited to The Ultimate Fighter: Nations tournament, where he defeated Sheldon Westcott by TKO in the second round in the finals, securing a UFC contract.
Although he had a positive score of 8-3 after five years in the most famous MMA organization (lost only to Thiago Santos, Brad Tavares and Derek Brunson), the UFC terminated his contract with him in May 2019. The main reason was most likely the fact that Theodorou often had his matches very over-tactical and the management did not see him as a sufficiently attractive fighter. After being released from the UFC, he fought three more fights in smaller competitions and was able to win all of them. Outside of the UFC, he has not known a conqueror in his entire career.
Theodorou, who was considered a great likable person by his colleagues, also became famous for presenting himself as one of the first “ring boys” within the women’s MMA organization Invicta FC, for which he received many praises, especially from female fans and fighters.
