Tim Elliott ahead of UFC 319: Gatekeeper label 'a fair assessment for me'
Elliott (20-14-1 MMA, 9-11 UFC) takes on Kai Asakura (21-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) on Saturday's UFC 319 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) main card at United Center in Chicago.
A former title challenger, Elliott won Season 24 of "The Ultimate Fighter" to earn that opportunity and gave Demetrious Johnson a tough fight. The 38-year-old has since gone through many ebbs and flows, but he embraces the position he's in.
"I hate that everybody kind of looks down on gatekeepers, but I think that's a fair assessment for me," Elliott told reporters at Wednesday's media day. "If you can't beat Tim Elliott in the flyweight division, you should not allowed to be in the UFC. I'm OK with that. The problem with this fight is, Kai has fought Pantoja, and now he's got to fight me. It's two tough guys in a row.
"I'm not saying he couldn't come back from it, but two losses in a row really hurts that guy. I'm not the guy that's going to be UFC champion, and even if I was, it would be taking something from some young guy who's trying to get to where I am. All I want to do now is put on exciting fights, enjoy what I'm doing, and make some money, but there's tons of guys in the top 10 that I'd want to fight."
Asakura challenged flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja in his octagon debut at UFC 310, but fell short in a submission loss. Elliott credits him for their placement on the UFC 319 main card.
"I'm super happy about the matchup," Elliott said. "I was in the UFC before USADA, and in the UFC after USADA so, I fought on the big stages, on the small stages. But honestly, fighting Kai is getting me a chance to be on the pay-per-view portion. I'm only fighting on the pay-per-view part because I'm fighting Kai. So, I owe him a little bit for that. I'm excited to be here, and I love that, but I've been around for a long time and rarely get to fight on a pay-per-view card. So, that's all his doing."
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