James Krause Takes Blame for ‘Huge Coaching Error’ in Tim Elliott Loss at UFC Fight Night 194

Viewers on UFC broacasts are often given an inside look at the coaching in fighters’ corners between rounds. In some instances, the advice given by the corners can be misleading — often because the coaches and trainers are viewing the bout from a different perspective.

After UFC Fight Night 194, James Krause, Tim Elliott’s coach at Glory MMA & Fitness, admitted that his instructions ended up being to the detriment of his athlete. Elliott fell to Matheus Nicolau via unanimous decision, with all three judges submitting 29-28 scorecards in favor of the Brazilian.

Krause, meanwhile, saw a different fight from his cageside seat, and he’s accepting some of the blame for Elliott’s defeat.

“I made a huge coaching error tonight that I’m sure is going to haunt me for some time to come,” Krause wrote on Instagram. “Going into the [third] 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 f—ing 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.”

While Elliott started quickly thanks to a takedown and effective clinch work, Nicolau took control down the stretch. All media outlets tracked by MMADecisions.com also had the fight 29-28 for Nicolau.

Nicolau himself was confident that he pulled away over the bout’s final 10 minutes.

“I knew the first round was for him because he put me on the ground. … I give the first round to him,” Nicolau said. “But the second and third, I knew I got the victory.”

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