Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) legend, Elias Theodorou, has died from cancer at the age of 34.
Theodorou’s publicist confirmed the news on Instagram this morning and said the UFC fighter died peacefully at his home in Toronto, Canada on Sunday “after a hard-fought fight with colon cancer that metastasised.”
Theodorou had been a five-year fighter in the UFC, entering the promotion after winning The Ultimate Fighter: Nations middleweight tournament in 2014.
He had a record of 8-3 in the UFC (19-3 in his professional MMA career) before he was cut by the promotion following a unanimous decision loss to Derek Brunson in 2019.
Theodorou was best known for being an advocate for the use of medicinal marijuana in combat sports. In 2020, the Greek Canadian became the first fighter to receive a therapeutic use exemption for medical cannabis.
News of his death has stunned the sporting world as Theodorou kept his battle with cancer private.
“RIP Elias Theodorou. A great person and a HUGE voice for the more fair and equitable treatment of marijuana use in MMA and sport,” Jeff Novitzky, the UFC’s senior vice-president of athlete health and performance, tweeted.
CBC’s Sanjay Maru wrote: “I’m shocked and gutted. Elias was one of the few high-profile names in MMA who gave me the time of day to chat with him. RIP, Spartan.”
Source: news.com.au.
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