Elias Theodorou, a charismatic mixed martial artist (MMA) who campaigned successfully for the right to use medical marijuana as an athlete, has died. He was 34.
His publicist, Jess Moran, confirmed the former UFC fighter died on Sunday in Toronto of liver cancer.
Theodorou, from Mississauga, Ontario, was an athlete, actor, model, stuntman, dancer, TV pitchman, Harlequin romance cover model and cannabis advocate.
Photo: AP
TSN fight analyst Robin Black, a friend and former fighter, said Theodorou had not shared his cancer diagnosis publicly.
Black said he believed Theodorou made that choice “because he couldn’t bear to make people sad.”
“He was a really, really, really special guy,” he said.
“A positive energy if ever there was one, a man who almost always flashed a winning smile, a man who spoke out about what he believed in,” Canadian fighter Sarah Kaufman said on social media.
Theodorou took up MMA in 2009 after his first year at Humber College, where he studied creative advertising.
He made his pro debut in June 2011 and was 8-0-0 in 2013 when he joined the cast of The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs Australia, an edition of the UFC’s reality TV show featuring teams of aspiring Canadian and Australian MMA fighters.
Theodorou and 15 other fighters spent six weeks filming in a lodge in the woods about an hour outside of Montreal.
“It was an interesting and amazing experience,” Theodorou said later.
Theodorou earned his UFC contract in April 2014 when he stopped fellow Canadian Sheldon Westcott with a second-round TKO in the TUF Nations finale in Quebec City.
He went on to win eight of 11 fights as a middleweight in the UFC, but was cut after a May 2019 loss to Derek Brunson in Ottawa. While Theodorou had a winning record, his grinding style lacked the fireworks the promotion looks for. Nine of his 11 UFC bouts went to a decision.
Theodorou was a fighter with a big gas tank. He kept on the move, often lashing out with kicks or hanging on his opponent at the fence as needed.
His last fight was a win over Bryan Baker in December last year on a Colorado Combat Club card. His pro record was 19 wins and three losses, with six wins in his last seven outings.
Theodorou campaigned for years to use medical marijuana in the sport, eventually securing a therapeutic use exemption for the marijuana he had been prescribed for bilateral neuropathic pain in his hands, wrists and elbows.
Theodorou, who said cannabis allowed him “to even the playing field and fight at a baseline level,” got the exemption in February 2020 from the British Columbia Athletic Commission.
“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, wrote on Twitter.
To call Theodorou a people person did not do him justice.
“I’m a very big extrovert,” he once said with a grin. “A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS