Din Thomas was a busy man on Saturday night at UFC 330 in Philadelphia. Not only was he carrying his usual broadcast duties, he was also cornering co-main challenger Gillian Robertson as she fought Mackenzie Dern for the women’s strawweight title.
Robertson ended up not having an answer on how to beat Dern, whose jiu jitsu was better and striking was faster and more powerful. Din Thomas didn’t have any useful advice to give her in the corner, either, relying instead on common platitudes like “Don’t
give up on yourself.”
Following Robertson’s loss, Thomas did the worst thing a coach can do: he buried his student in public. On the Paramount+ post-show, Din announced he was done cornering fighters.
“I told myself I would continue to do this until I took Gillian as far as she could go. I think that might be as far as she can go,” Thomas said. “I am officially retiring from cornering fighters tonight. Yes. I’m doing the Matt Serra. I am no longer cornering fighters. I’ve been sitting on that and I’m telling you now, that’s what I’m doing.”
“It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of stress. You gotta be there all week. Again, I’ve been slowly telling you, I don’t cut weight with ’em. And it’s not fair to them. They need somebody who’s gonna really put that type of work in with them.”
We’re not sure if Din meant to throw shade at Gillian, but that’s certainly how it came across to everyone online. He got a huge torrent of abuse from people across the MMA landscape, and not just random fans. UFC champion Sean Strickland chimed in, and even Jon Anik criticized Thomas for his comment.
“Wow. Awful,” Anik wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Not about you, bro! Wow.”
“Din Thomas is a f–king c–t,” Strickland wrote. “I’ve had my ass kicked in multiple weight classes through my career and won two titles… You’re a dick head. Its probably better you retire. You’re a s–t coach. You only lose when you quit… Din sounds like you’re a f–king loser.”
“Stand behind your fighter in good and bad times,” reporter Marcel Dorff commented. “The coaching was abysmal as well in between rounds. Gillian might be better off without you.”
Din Thomas has been training Gillian Robertson since she was 15 years old. To help her get to a UFC title shot should have been a crowning achievement. Instead it’s been turned into an ugly thing where he turned his back on her following a disappointing loss.
