Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) legend, Elias Theodorou, has died from cancer at the age of 34.

Theodorou’s official social media accounts confirmed that the UFC fighter died peacefully at his home in Toronto, Canada on Sunday (local time) “after a hard-fought fight with colon cancer that metastasised”.

Elias “The Spartan” Theodorou, born in Mississauga, Ontario to two Greek parents, was an athlete, actor, model, stuntman, dancer, TV pitchman, Harlequin romance cover model and cannabis advocate.

Theodorou took up MMA in 2009 after his first year at Humber College, where he studied creative advertising and made his debut in 2011.

He had been a five-year fighter in the UFC, entering the promotion after winning The Ultimate Fighter: Nations middleweight tournament in 2014 and kept a record of 8-3 in the UFC (19-3 in his professional MMA career).

In 2019 he was cut by the promotion following a unanimous decision loss to Derek Brunson becoming an advocate for the use of medicinal marijuana in combat sports.

In 2020, the Greek Canadian became the first fighter to receive a therapeutic use exemption for medical cannabis, however, he kept his battle with cancer private.

Following his passing, his publicist said on Instagram:

“Elias ‘The Spartan’ Theodorou answered his final bell yesterday, September 11th, 2022.

He passed peacefully at home with his family and loved ones in his corner after a hard-fought fight with colon cancer that metastasized.

He faced his end as he lived his life eternally, irrationally, and infectiously optimistic,” the post said.

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Reacting to the news Jeff Novitzky, the UFC’s senior vice-president of athlete health and performance, tweeted:

“RIP Elias Theodorou. A great person and a HUGE voice for the more fair and equitable treatment of marijuana use in MMA and sport,”

“I’m shocked and gutted. Elias was one of the few high-profile names in MMA who gave me the time of day to chat with him. RIP, Spartan,” CBC’s Sanjay Maru wrote.

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,” Black 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.

His last fight was a win over Bryan Baker last December on a Colorado Combat Club card. His pro record was 19 wins and three losses, with six wins in his last seven outings. When he would not train he would help others battling cancer, who did not have financial and psychological support.

“I’m a very big extrovert,” he had told the Associated Press in one of his interviews. “A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”

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