Exclusive: Din Thomas

By Justin Bolduc




In a PunchDrunkGamer exclusive, Justin Bolduc had a chance to talk with Din Thomas about his recovery from a knee injury suffered against Kenny Florian, his training academy in Florida and his upcoming return to the UFC octagon.

PDG: How's your knee doing?

Din: It's a lot better. Still doing therapy, but you know, I'm old now so I need therapy on my whole body. So the knee's just another one of those things.

PDG: Are you able to train at one hundred percent now or do you still have to hold back a little?

Din: Yeah, I'm training one hundred percent.

PDG: There are rumors that you have a fight coming up in the spring. Have you been told anything, or are you planning on anything?

Din: Yeah, April second actually.



PDG: Do you have an opponent lined up yet?

Din: No, nothing has been signed yet so I can't really say who, just because it hasn't been signed.

PDG: You were really moving up in the UFC's lightweight division, but obviously the injury and the loss somewhat pushed you back. Do you think you're going to get to jump right back in if you win the next one, or...?

Din: Sure, sure. That kinda pisses me off sometimes, man. When they talk about the "top lightweights", all you ever hear is about guys who are hot shit already. But that's all right. I'm going to get back in there, and handle this one, you know, and make a statement.

PDG: It's not like you just straight-up got your ass kicked.

Din: Yeah, that's for sure. I went down, and I couldn't compete, you know? For me, this injury is pretty unforgiving. I just need to get the work [the necessary therapy and rehabilitation] out of the way and still not get neglected. That's all right though; I'll make my statement at this upcoming fight.

PDG: Yeah, it could have turned out worse; like when [Karo was supposed to fight Hughes for a title shot, but Karo was injured right before the fight and couldn't compete], [the UFC] just totally forgot about even giving him a title shot once he came back.

Din: But you know, honestly, getting a title shot isn't even my main motivation right now. It's just about getting that respect; I'm going to make these cats fear me.

PDG: In terms of the other top lightweights, what do you think of the "new and improved" BJ Penn?

Din: I don't think he's improved, so to speak, I think he's always been tough and he's always been good. And he would be tough to beat. If he beats Sherk I see him being champ for a while. Not that many guys really match up well against [Penn] because of his skill set. His jiu-jitsu is so much better than everybody else's, he's going to be a very hard guy to beat.

PDG: I also wanted to talk about [Din Thomas' school, American Top Team Academy], and stuff like that. What's it like running a school, and being a professional fighter, while balancing all that with your family?

Din: It's not that bad, you just have to know where your priorities are when they come around. Like for me, if I don't have a fight coming up, my number one priority is my students. Then when I have a fight coming up, I have to switch that over to my fight, and really the closer it gets to my fight, the bigger of a priority it becomes. The way I justify that to my students is: when everybody's at the sports bar, watching me on TV, of course they want to see me win. (laughs) So they're pretty understanding when it comes to that.
Plus I have a good staff at the school with me. Realistically, to make it work, I have to have a good staff, I couldn't do it all by myself. I have a great staff, it's a good support system, a cast of guys who stand up and handle their business, especially when I'm gone. And with the family, it's just juggling that time, and making sure everyone gets ample and equal time, so nobody's really feeling too neglected.

PDG: Do you find that for you personally, teaching has made you a better fighter?

Din: Not really, not necessarily. I don't think it did, I just think that it keeps me focused on what I'm doing more. I mean, if I wasn't teaching I'd probably be working at some stupid job that I wouldn't mind doing. To get my physical activity in I'd be playing basketball or something. But being an instructor always keeps you in fight shape, and keeps you in the game of what I do for my "real" job, and that's fighting. So that's the benefit of it. I don't think it's made me a better fighter though, it might have made me more technical [when using moves], then I was a few years ago when I first started teaching. Aside from making me more technical, though, as of right now I don't think it helps me in my fights.

PDG: Is there anything major that your school or any of your fighters have coming up?

Din: There's a few grapple tournaments coming up; but right now I'm really dealing with a bunch of young, amateur guys that I'm really going to start working with after that bone crunch thing. You know, I've decided to not really branch off; to deal with a bunch of my old buddies who are panicking to get me fights - I've decided not to [have guys represent me]. So right now I'm dealing with this bunch of younger guys who are training really hard at my school and I can monitor them well and watch them grow. As of right now we have a fight scheduled March 15th in Louisiana. I'm not exactly sure of the name of the show at the moment but it's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We've got about five amateur guys that are going to fight and hopefully do well, represent!

PDG: There seems to be a lot of competition between a lot of the jiu-jitsu academies in Florida. How do you feel about the drive so many schools have to compete with each other down [here, in Florida, where Thomas also lives and has his school]?

Din: I think it's great, it's really good. Everybody's always competing so it keeps our energy level high, I think it's healthy competition. There's no real beef between guys, it's just healthy competition. I think South Florida has not only one of the highest levels of MMA, but also of jiu-jitsu in the country; I think that is attributed to the fact that there are so many different schools here and so many high-level guys who are always competing, trying to get better and be better. I think as long as we can keep it that way we're always going to be competing at a high level and we're always going to produce good fighters who can make a living and make money with it.

PDG: What are your short-term and long-term plans for your school?

Din: My only plan really is to always be successful. I know that's a pretty vague statement but really my goal is to eventually, one day, get to the point where I do have a pro team: a bunch of pro fighters who can train together on their own time and then I can dedicate myself to them sometimes. I'd want to have that totally separate from my student programs, where I don't have to spend as much time with [the students]. I would have other instructors [the pro team members] and the students can learn from them and have confidence in them as well. So that's pretty much my goal, that I will not be the sole figurehead of my academy. I'll have a supporting cast of all those guys that would be ready to step up and run the show and the students would have total confidence in them. And that would go for not only the students but also the [amateur] fighters that I have there. That way I don't always have to be there. I'm not saying I don't want to - because I really love being there. I just want to get the school to the point where it can be self-sufficient and everybody can still have the same level of confidence, and get the same high level training.

PDG: Do you think you would like Port St. Lucie area to become a focal point for professional fighters, like the Coconut Creek branches?

Din: I think it can. I think it really can. It's going to be tough, because again in South Florida there's a ton of competition and a lot of good guys and it's hard to separate yourself from all those. But I think it can and it will, especially with all the shows in Florida there are a lot of opportunities for up-and-coming fighters. So, there's always going to be a need, and a place where you can get your training; in Coconut Creek it's always so saturated with so many guys that [newcomers] are going to look for other quality places to get their training and I think that Port St. Lucie will be one of those places people can go to where they feel like they get a high level of personal [although not always from Din - but from a qualified instructor]. Actually, I'm starting to get a lot of hits now where guys really want to come and get some work in.

PDG: One new name that was mentioned joining American Top Team, who is a really big deal in Jiu-Jitsu is Marcello. (Din interjects: "He's amazing, huh?") Obviously that's going to help him a lot as far as MMA goes, but how do you think that will also affect American Top Team's fighters, who are already general skilled at Jiu-Jitsu. Ricardo [Arona, an ATT member] is obviously really, really good, but Marcello's probably one of the top guys pound-for-pound in the world currently competing. So what do you think that brings to the table for ATT?

Din: Well, I tell you what man, his ground is amazing. I've seen him roll with some really good guys and just have his way with them effortlessly. So his ground game is probably the best I've seen... (pauses) really (laughs) ...pound-for pound. But I think the main thing is, I think he's going to benefit more overall from us than we will from him. You know, being that he's actually going to learn to deal with and use that jiu-jitsu ability in an MMA environment. Because, while he may have the best jiu-jitsu in the world, it's not at all the same when the guy you're fighting is trying to hit you really hard in the mouth. He's actually going to benefit a lot more than we will, from having him around. Not to say that we won't benefit from it, because just by having him on the floor and watching him move and learning some of his little tricks, of course our skills will go up too.


I think he could actually be one of the top guys in the world if he takes his time and gets built up right. It sucks because, in his position, being the best fighter in your sport in the world, [big organizations] always expect you to take big fights early and that's not something you need to do. He needs to really take his time and develop himself as a fighter, to start at the lower levels and work his way up. That way he can progress as a fighter, instead of just jumping out there (like into the UFC) at this time because of his name. I don't think he'd be ready for that at this point. I think in two or three years, with him working his way up, there won't be many guys out there who can beat him.

PDG: He's already shown he's smart like that, he was going to fight some nobody and then dropped out because he didn't feel ready for an MMA fight, and then when he actually fought it was another nobody. (Din agrees) A lot of people throw out a lot of names like Sherk, Penn, and Gomi. Somebody that's really starting to come into the light out of your team is Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti. What are your overall thoughts of him - he's been dominating [K-1 HERO’S], and he hung in there with Masato [in kickboxing], so...

Din: Yeah, he's another - just pure hard work. I watched that guy grow from a young cat to now, in my opinion, someone who could be legitimately ranked the number one [MMA fighter] in the world, just because of his accomplishments. He's a hell of an athlete. I think it's going to be tough for anybody to beat him and he deserves everything he gets, he's the hardest working guy at the gym some days.

PDG: Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions, Din.

Din: Later!