An American fighter asked his opponent if he was a woman-beater in the middle of their UFC fight

• Tim Elliot asked his UFC opponent Saturday if he was a woman-beater in the middle of their fight.
• His opponent Jordan Espinosa said: "You don't know the whole story."
• Elliot elaborated on the in-fight exchange to the media at a post-fight conference.

The UFC veteran Tim Elliot appeared to ask his opponent Jordan Espinosa if he was a woman-beater in the middle of their fight Saturday at the Apex in Las Vegas.

A statement from Espinosa's talent manager Bryan Hamper described the incident as "reckless slander."

The three-round flyweight bout was one Elliot dominated, and it was not without wild moments as the 34-year-old complained to the referee Mark Smith that his opponent was overly-greased in the opening round.

Later, Elliot was bleeding profusely and used his forehead to rub that blood all over Espinosa's eyes while they were grappling on the mat.

The show was held behind-closed-doors - customary for the UFC's events during the COVID-era in the US. In the eerie quiet of the arena, the sound of punches, kicks, and in this case, voices can be heard more clearly.

Midway through the Elliot and Espinosa fight, they seemed to have the following exchange:

Elliot: "I heard you choked your girl in 2018. Are you a woman-beater? She messaged me."

Espinosa: "Did she? You don't know the whole story."

Elliot: "I know enough."

Espinosa: "You don't know s---."

You can hear their in-fight conversation here:

Elliot landed 91 of his 120 strikes for a 76% accuracy rate while securing four of his seven takedown attempts. He was far busier, more active, and more effective than Espinosa, who landed 22 of 35 strikes (62%).

He was awarded a unanimous decision win with scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 30-25 from the three Octagonside judges.

Reporters at the post-event press conference asked about the mid-fight verbals.

"I didn't say that for anybody else to hear because I don't know the whole story," Elliot told the media.

"I was messaged on Facebook … a long message with some pictures and some Snapchat, back-and-forth between Jordan Espinosa and another girl. Pictures of her with choke marks on her neck.

"Again, I don't know the whole story and it's not something I wanted the whole world to hear. That was supposed to be between him and I.

"I didn't know the mic was going to pick up on it. But it was kind of disturbing - the whole thing.

"I have a daughter. This was the only fight that I've had out of all my fights that was personal. It was hard to keep my cool, my cardio in check, because of it.

"It's not something I'm proud of to say, but I'm glad it's out there if it's true."

Espinosa's manager, Bryan Hamper of SuckerPunch Entertainment, told MMA Junkie: "We will not be commenting on Tim Elliott's accusations.

"It is extremely unfortunate that an athlete who has no information of the situation is given a platform to recklessly slander another athlete with no credible information other than a [Facebook] message.

"It sets a dangerous precedence allowing this type of behavior to make headlines. Words matter."

Elliot advanced his pro-MMA record to 17 wins (three knockouts, six submissions, and eight decisions) against 11 losses.