- Din Thomas
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Din Thomas Born September 28, 1976
Wilmington, Delaware, United StatesOther names Dinbo Slice Nationality American Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Weight 145 pounds (66 kg) Division Featherweight (2009–present)
Lightweight
WelterweightStyle Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing Fighting out of Port St. Lucie, Florida Team American Top Team Rank black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ricardo Liborio Years active 1998–present MMA Mixed martial arts record Total 33 Wins 25 By knockout 7 By submission 14 By decision 4 Losses 8 By knockout 2 By submission 2 By decision 4 Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog last updated on: February 15, 2010 Din Yero Thomas (born September 28, 1976) is an American mixed martial arts fighter and part time break dancer, who was featured on The Ultimate Fighter 4. He currently runs two successful Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA academies in Port St. Lucie, Florida and is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ricardo Liborio.[1] Thomas fights out of Florida and trains with American Top Team.[2]
Thomas has acted in local independent films, portraying The Fight Kid in Chris Fuller's Loren Cass and Reverend Pierce in Natalie, Queen of Scots.[3]
Contents
Mixed martial arts career
Before entering the UFC, Din Thomas held a 12–1 MMA record including wins over future UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver and Dokonjonosuke Mishima, with his only loss coming to future UFC lightweight title challenger Caol Uno. Thomas made his UFC debut at UFC 32, in a fight against future UFC lightweight & welterweight champion B.J. Penn, where he lost by TKO (Strikes) in Round 1. Thomas returned at UFC 33, defeating Fabiano Iha by unanimous decision.
At UFC 39, Thomas faced Japanese superstar Caol Uno in a rematch. The fight was part of a tournament to determine the new UFC Lightweight Champion. After three rounds, Thomas lost by unanimous decision. His next fight was a split decision victory over future UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra at UFC 41. This fight would prove somewhat controversial, due to one of the judges mistakenly placing the score he assigned to Thomas in the column reserved for Serra[citation needed]. This caused Serra to be declared the winner by decision, but the mistake was discovered and Thomas and his team were notified of the change, giving Thomas the split decision victory. This would be Thomas's last UFC fight for 3 years.
Thomas was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 4 where he defeated Mikey Burnett in the first round, before losing to training partner Chris Lytle by decision in the semi-finals. Thomas returned at the finale on November 11, 2006, to face Rich Clementi, winning via rear naked choke in the second round.
Thomas was then defeated via submission (rear naked choke) by future UFC lightweight title challenger Kenny Florian after injuring his knee in a takedown attempt while headlining the main event at UFC Fight Night 11. Doctors said in his takedown attempt that Thomas tore his meniscus and stretched his PCL.[4][5] His most recent UFC fight was a unanimous decision loss to Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 13. He was released from his UFC contract after this fight.[6]
After his loss to Neer, Din decided to drop a weight class to Featherweight (145 lbs). He debuted at featherweight against Dustin Pieken securing a triangle choke in the first round. He has followed that up with TKO wins over Gabe Lemley and Dustin Pague.
Thomas has signed with Shine Fights and was expected to make his debut against Ricardo Mayorga on May 15 in Fayetteville, North Carolina but it was canceled after Don King was granted an injunction preventing Mayorga from fighting.[7]
Thomas was scheduled to return after a nearly two-year-long layoff Oct. 7, 2011, at Fight Time 7 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a promotion headed up by his American Top Team boxing trainer, Howard Davis Jr. But Thomas was in a car accident prior to the event and had to be hospitalized for his injuries. His fight against George Sheppard was scheduled to be the main event of Fight Time 7: The Return of Din Thomas.[8]
Personal life
Thomas is married and has a son named Ethon.[9]
He also appeared in the 2007 Gotham Award-nominated independent feature film Loren Cass which had its United States premiere at Dennis Hopper's CineVegas Film Festival and its international premiere in the prestigious Filmmakers of the Present competition at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland; a future wide release is anticipated.
Thomas was arrested on October 30, 2007, on a charge of "felony prohibited competitions" in Port St. Lucie, Florida at his training gym.[10] As of November 30, 2007, the Assistant State Attorney's office decided not to file formal charges against Thomas and filed paperwork dismissing the charge on which he was arrested. The Assistant D.A. stated if the fighter or participants were students of Thomas' school, and the purpose of the school is to teach martial arts, then they meet the exception to the law.[11]
Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown 33 matches 25 wins 8 losses By knockout 7 2 By submission 14 2 By decision 4 4 Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes Win 25-8 Dustin Pague TKO (Doctor Stoppage) World Extreme Fighting: Brasco vs. Whitesel 2010-01-08 2 4:14 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States Win 24-8 Gabe Lemley TKO (Knee) SRP: March Badness 2009-03-21 1 4:13 Pensacola, Florida, United States Win 23-8 Dustin Pieken Submission (Triangle Choke) HHP 1: The Patriot Act 2009-02-07 1 2:58 Columbia, Missouri, United States 145 lb Debut Loss 22-8 Josh Neer Decision (Unanimous) UFC Fight Night 13 2008-04-02 3 5:00 Broomfield, Colorado, United States Loss 22-7 Kenny Florian Submission (Rear Naked Choke) UFC Fight Night 11 2007-09-19 1 4:30 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win 22-6 Jeremy Stephens Submission (Armbar) UFC 71 2007-05-26 2 2:44 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Won Submission of the Night Honors Win 21-6 Clay Guida Decision (Unanimous) UFC Fight Night 8 2007-01-25 3 5:00 Hollywood, Florida, United States Win 20-6 Rich Clementi Submission (Rear Naked Choke) The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale 2006-11-11 2 3:11 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss 19-6 Luciano Azevedo Decision (Unanimous) WCFC – No Guts No Glory 2006-03-18 3 5:00 Manchester, England Win 19-5 Dwayne Shelton Submission (Armbar) BP – Pride and Glory 2005-09-17 1 Georgia, United States Loss 18-5 Tyrone Glover Decision (Majority) DEEP – 20th Impact 2005-09-03 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Win 18-4 John Strawn Submission (Armbar) AFC 11 – Absolute Fighting Championships 11 2005-02-12 1 1:15 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States Loss 17-4 Amar Suloev TKO (Punches and Soccer Kicks) Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 2003-12-31 1 4:22 Kobe, Japan Win 17-3 Steve Berger Decision (Unanimous) AFC 4 – Absolute Fighting Championships 4 2003-07-19 3 5:00 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States Win 16-3 Matt Serra Decision (Split) UFC 41 – Onslaught 2003-02-28 3 5:00 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Loss 15-3 Caol Uno Decision (Unanimous) UFC 39 – The Warriors Return 2002-09-27 3 5:00 Uncasville, Connecticut, United States The first bout of a two-round tournament for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship Win 15-2 Rob Baer TKO RSF 6 – Mayhem in Myers 2001-12-29 N/A Fort Myers, Florida, United States Win 14-2 Jason Bender KO RSF 5 – New Blood Conflict 2001-10-27 1 1:03 Augusta, Georgia, United States Win 13-2 Fabiano Iha Decision (Unanimous) UFC 33 – Victory in Vegas 2001-09-28 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss 12-2 B.J. Penn KO (Knee and Punches) UFC 32 – Showdown in the Meadowlands 2001-06-29 1 2:42 East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States Win 12-1 Scott Johnson Submission (Armbar) RSF 1 – Redemption in the Valley 2001-04-21 1 3:11 Wheeling, West Virginia, United States Win 11-1 Stephen Palling Submission (Triangle Choke) SB 20 – SuperBrawl 20 2001-02-23 1 3:52 Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Win 10-1 Jens Pulver Submission (Heel Hook) WEF – New Blood Conflict 2000-08-26 2 0:33 Win 9-1 Don Banville TKO (Corner Stoppage) WEF 9 – World Class 2000-05-13 2 4:00 Evansville, Indiana, United States Win 8-1 Dokonjonosuke Mishima TKO (Cut) Shooto – R.E.A.D. 2 2000-03-17 2 3:37 Tokyo, Japan Win 7-1 Tim Douglas Submission (Armbar) RCF 4 – Reality Combat Fighting 4 2000-02-19 1 0:45 Houma, Louisiana, United States Win 6-1 Ken Allen Technical Submission (Guillotine Choke) WEF 7 – Stomp in the Swamp 1999-10-09 1 3:16 Kenner, Louisiana, United States Loss 5-1 Caol Uno Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Shooto – Renaxis 4 1999-09-05 3 3:16 Tokyo, Japan Win 5-0 Scott Bills Submission (Choke) WEF 5 – World Extreme Fighting 5 1999-02-21 1 3:46 Win 4-0 Scott Bills TKO WEF 4 – World Extreme Fighting 4 1998-12-19 1 5:00 Win 3-0 Ed Lutz Submission (Rear Naked Choke) WEF 4 – World Extreme Fighting 4 1998-12-19 1 3:20 Win 2-0 Rodney Brown Submission (Keylock) YVT – Ybor Vale Tudo 1998-12-15 1 4:00 Tampa, Florida, United States Win 1-0 Tomas Velazquez Submission (Armbar) WVF – Jacksonville Vale Tudo 1 1998-10-28 1 1:02 Jacksonville, Florida, United States Notes and references
- ^ http://americantopteam.com/news_detail.php?NewsArticleID=180
- ^ "Fighters". www.AMERICANTOPTEAM.com. 2009-08-06. http://www.americantopteam.com/fighters.php. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1999028/
- ^ "UFC Fight Night 11 Shaping Up". Nokaut.com. 2007-07-12. http://www.nokaut.com/?id=12&solo_news=932&lang=e&cur=eur. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
- ^ "'KenFlo' Replaces Spencer Fisher for UFC Main Event". UFC.com. 2007-08-07. http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=7163. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ "Report: UFC Cuts Thomas, Speer, and Hironaka". MMA Junkie.com. May 5, 2008. http://mmajunkie.com/news/4281/report-ufc-cuts-thomas-speer-and-hironaka.mma. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- ^ http://mmajunkie.com/news/19160/with-mayorga-out-north-carolina-commission-pulls-the-plug-on-shine-fights.mma
- ^ http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/10/07/ufc-vet-din-thomas-injured-in-car-accident-misses-main-event-re/
- ^ "Din Thomas - A Veteran's Journey Continues this Thursday". UFC.com. 2007-01-23. http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.Detail&gid=4244. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
- ^ "UFC's Din Thomas ARRESTED". www.angrymarks.com. 2007-10-30. http://www.angrymarks.com/news/View.php?ArticleID=2283. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
- ^ [1]
External links
- Official Site
- American Top Team Site
- American Top Team's Port St. Lucie School
- Professional MMA record for Din Thomas from Sherdog
- November, 2006 Interview
Mikey Burnett · Shonie Carter · Rich Clementi · Patrick Côté · Edwin Dewees · Jeremy Jackson · Travis Lutter · Chris Lytle · Charles McCarthy · Gideon Ray · Jorge Rivera · Pete Sell · Matt Serra · Scott Smith · Pete Spratt · Din ThomasCategories:- Living people
- American mixed martial artists
- American practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- 1976 births
- People from Wilmington, Delaware
- Featherweight mixed martial artists
- Lightweight mixed martial artists
- African-American mixed martial artists
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