Elias Theodorou, Canadian UFC fighter and cannabis advocate, dies at 34
Global News
Elias Theodorou, from Mississauga, Ontario, was a charismatic mixed martial artist who campaigned successfully for the right to use medical marijuana as an athlete.
Elias Theodorou, a charismatic mixed martial artist 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 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.
TSN fight analyst Robin Black, a friend and former fighter himself, said Theodorou had not shared his cancer diagnosis publicly. Black figured Theodorou made that choice “because he couldn’t bear to make people sad.”
“He was a really, really, really special guy,” said Black.
“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.
