“For me, it’s about stylistic matchups,” he said. “And the good thing about Victor Altamirano, stylistically, is that it’s an exciting matchup for me and it’s a fun fight and it’s a fight where I can really go out and fight my style. I was going to fight Allan Nascimento, and it was going to be hard for me to fight the way I really want to fight and still be safe with him. So it would’ve been a more boring fight to fight, and it wouldn’t be my fault, really. It takes two guys to fight, and you have to fight him differently. So, I’m excited. I had three different opponents and three different venues and three different times, and I said yes to all of them, luckily, and then ended up getting the date that I wanted and the guy that I wanted.”
UFC 289: Nunes vs Aldana Main Event Spotlight
With that business secured and his body fight-ready, it was off to address the “dark,” which may or may not have been a series of events that included the end of a relationship, a move from his home in Missouri, and getting used to a new camp with UFC / PRIDE veteran Chris Brennan. Yes, the fighter who used to train with “Strange Little Men” is now working with “The Westside Strangler.”
“With the whole James Krause thing, I still talk to him,” he said of his longtime coach, who is currently suspended, forcing Elliott to find new training digs. “He’s still one of my best friends and he has been my mentor for most of my life. I asked him what he thought, and he told me this is where I needed to be. So this is where I came. I would have stayed in Kansas City. Zak Cummings has a gym up there, and Trey Ogden has a gym. They both split off from Glory and they opened their own gyms, and they have fight teams. And I was still cross training there when I’m in Kansas City, but I had to get out of Kansas City and do what was best for me. So Next Generation, this was the spot James told me about, and as soon as James told me, I packed my s**t and came this way.”
