Elkins was born in Hobart, Indiana and competed four years in wrestling for Portage High School.

His next bout took place on the preliminary card of UFC on Versus 2 against Charles Oliveira.

[6] Elkins took Oliveira down early, but his opponent quickly attempted a triangle choke.

[7] Elkins made his featherweight debut against Michihiro Omigawa on June 11, 2011, at UFC 131.

[8] Elkins won a unanimous decision over Zhang Tiequan on October 8, 2011, at UFC 136.

After several failed guillotine attempts from Zhang, Elkins was able to dominate him from top position including at several points mounting him and pounding away with strikes.

Elkins utilized his top game with ground and pound to win the second and third rounds, earning him the unanimous decision victory.

[10] Elkins fought fellow featherweight prospect Steven Siler on November 17, 2012, at UFC 154.

After dominating the fight for three rounds, Elkins was awarded the unanimous decision victory, moving him to 4–0 at featherweight and 5-1 overall in the UFC.

Elkins won via first-round TKO stoppage after landing strikes that rocked Carvalho followed by a knockdown, prompting the referee to intervene.

[12] After taking virtually no damage in the fight against Carvalho, Elkins made a quick return and faced Chad Mendes on April 20, 2013, at UFC on Fox 7, replacing an injured Clay Guida.

[26] Elkins faced Michael Johnson on January 14, 2018, at UFC Fight Night: Stephens vs.

The trademark "Damage" weathered a first round storm to complete the comeback and was awarded a Performance of the Night bonus.

[37] Elkins faced Luiz Eduardo Garagorri on November 7, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Santos vs.

[42] Elkins faced Cub Swanson on December 18, 2021, at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs.