James Krause laments coaching error in Tim Elliott loss at UFC Vegas 39 that will ‘haunt me’

James Krause is shouldering some of the responsibility for Tim Elliott’s latest loss.

On the UFC Vegas 39 main card Saturday, Elliott dropped a unanimous decision to Matheus Nicolau after three competitive rounds of back-and-forth action. Though both fighters had their moments, judges saw Nicolau as having the slight edge thanks to some timely striking and a key takedown in the third round. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Nicolau.

Ahead of that final round, Krause (who was serving as a coach in Elliott’s corner) could be heard on the broadcast telling Elliott that he was up on the scorecards. Krause later took to Instagram to express his regret over that choice of advice, calling it a “huge coaching error.”

“I made a huge coaching error tonight that I’m sure is going to haunt me for some time to come,” Krause wrote. “Going into the third round I thought for 100 percent sure we took one and two. Regardless of if that was true or not I should have pushed Tim to work up in the third and I didn’t.”

Krause praised Elliott for his coachability and fearlessness, which was fully on display Saturday despite the loss. He added, “We’ve been through worse losses than this one. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: There’s only one [Tim Elliott].”

Elliott, a one-time UFC flyweight title challenger, saw a two-fight win streak snapped and is now 2-4 in his past six fights. He later shared his own thoughts on the outcome on social media, thanking his opponent, his team, and the UFC.

See Krause’s full unedited statement below:

I made a huge coaching error tonight that I’m sure is going to haunt me for some time to come.

Going into the 3rd round I thought for 100% sure we took 1 and 2. Regardless of if that was true or not I should have pushed Tim to work up in the 3rd… and I didn’t.

Win, lose, or draw I’m so proud of the improvements that Tim has made in the last year.

His willingness to learn and be coached is what makes him so incredible.

His lack of fear in competition is something we can all take and learn from to be one of the best entertainers in all of mma. I know I have learned so much from him over the years.

I fucking hate losing but it’s part of the game. Regardless, this dude is my dog.

We’ve been through worse losses than this one.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…

There’s only one @awkward_mma