New Din Thomas interview!
PunchDrunkGamer's Justin Bolduc sat down with Din Thomas following his hard-fought decision loss to Josh Neer. Din spoke about the fight, his teammates, Marcelo Garcia, and the possibility of competing in jiu-jitsu tournaments following his MMA career.
PDG: You’re coming off a disappointing loss to Josh Neer........
Din: Ah, that’s where you’re wrong, I’m not disappointed.
PDG: You’re not disappointed?
Din: No, not at all actually.
PDG: Alright – so you’re coming off a loss to Neer; how do you view the fight?
Din: I view it as a really good fight. Sometimes you go into fights with different objectives. For me, going into this fight with Josh – not to say I didn’t want to win or didn’t think I could win, but for me going into this fight with Josh was one where I really just wanted to have a high-paced, action-packed fight and just go toe to toe, and I knew Josh would be the type of guy that would just bang it out – and that is what we did. I think the crowd got into it and the crowd enjoyed the fight, so for me that was a victory. The victory was to have a fight that the crowd could get into, because for some time I’ve been considered too technical, or a boring fighter. I wanted to just have a fun where I could get the crowd involved and just have a hard, tough back and forth fight. Josh was better than me that night and he beat me, what can I say?
PDG: Did you have any problems fighting in the high altitude?
Din: Not really. I had spent a week and a half out there prior, so I had pretty much adjusted to the altitude. But the reality is when you are in a fight you are always going to get tired, you know? Was I tired? Yeah – but I don’t think it had anything to do with the altitude. I was just physically tired from being in a fight – and that type of fight, it was a war. Not only was I out there for a week and a half, but I also had a Hypoxico high altitude machine that those guys were so gracious enough to let me use to get ready for the fight – so conditioning-wise I was good.
PDG: When you fought Kenny Florian you were injured. Kenny fought on the same card against Joe Lauzon in the main event, in a position you could have easily been in had things turned out differently. Did you have a chance to watch the fight, and what are your thoughts on the direction the lightweight division is heading?
Din: I think Kenny right now is definitely one of the best guys in the division. A lot of people sleep on him, but they don’t really know Kenny. I was in the dressing room with him and I have a lot of respect for him – a lot more now than when I fought him because he is a true warrior. He is a constant professional and I look up to him a lot now, and his whole attitude towards fighting. I think he is going to go real far. I think he has a good shot at being a champion. In his fight against Joe he proved that he is on another level than a lot of the other guys out there. Not to say I don’t think I could beat Kenny – if we fought again I don’t know who would win – but Kenny is definitely somebody that deserves everything that he is getting.
PDG: Yeah, he’s also one of the few guys that are improving dramatically between each fight.
Din: Yeah. I don’t think it is as much physically as it is mentally. Like I said, I was in his dressing room with him and his people, and that is where you could really see it mentally. He’s at the top of his game right now. I think Kenny has always been good, he’s always been a good jiu-jitsu guy and his stand-up has improved because he has worked on it, but he picks up a lot of good techniques real fast – he’s a quick learner, and mentally he’s at the top of his game. I think that is what separates a guy like Kenny and me at this point in our careers, it’s like Kenny has about half the fights I have, he’s been in half the wars I’ve been in, so I think for Kenny he is really, really hungry and trying to kill these guys. For me I’m just trying to put on a good show, get paid, work for the title – but Kenny is really trying to kill guys and prove himself; I think I’m past proving myself – I think I have already proved myself.
PDG: Did it help at all preparing for this fight with Marcus [Aurelio] also preparing for the same event?
Din: Yeah, it did. I actually went out to Colorado Springs prior to the fight with Marcus, Thiago Alves......
PDG: Yeah, Thiago fought too.
Din: Yeah. We had Rafael Dias too – he had a fight a few days after us. We brought a few other guys too, like Jorge Santiago and Yves Edwards. But considering the other guys had fights and it wasn’t me out there alone, we were eating from the same plate and it really helped having guys on the same card and being able to prepare together and go through the same things together.
PDG: Thiago probably had the most substantial win of the night, taking out Karo [Parisyan] with a knockout.
Din: The thing is, had you known both guys and the circumstances they were under you could have called that. Most people don’t know who Thiago Alves is because he is always on the undercards, you never get to see him. If you haven’t been in a room with him and watching him train you probably don’t know a lot about him. All you know about him is probably that he got triangled by Spencer Fisher or lost to Jon Fitch. But being with him and seeing his other fights, you kind of saw that coming actually. I think Karo probably underestimated him too, he probably doesn’t want to admit it, but since Thiago wasn’t a big name or a high-profile fighter he may have underestimated him as well. That is always a mistake, especially with a guy like Thiago who is a good, powerful striker. I think that may have been a lot of what was Karo’s problem in that fight. I really kind of saw the knockout coming.
PDG: Yeah, and while Karo is improving his striking it is just too much to jump up to someone’s level, like Thiago’s – and a lot of people were counting out Thiago’s ground game; people forget that everybody at American Top Team is pretty much a black belt [laughs].
Din: And I’ll tell you, the thing with – we call [Thiago] “Pitbull”, it’s easier for me to say “Pitbull”; the thing with “Pitbull” is you aren’t going to see him do a bunch of fancy moves [on the ground] because that is not his thing. He is proficient on the ground, but you may see him fall into some bad positions because the idea of him on the ground is just to get back up – he’ll sacrifice a position to get back up. That is the difference between a guy like him and a guy like me. You look at me and can say “he’s more of a ground guy than someone like Thiago.” That is because when I am on the ground I am totally comfortable there. I don’t feel this big rush to get back to my feet. “Pitbull” on the other hand – it’s not that he feels the rush; it’s just that he’d rather be on his feet. So he’ll give up a position that I wouldn’t to get back to his feet. I’ll sit on the ground and try to submit a guy, but he’s going to try to get back up and knock a guy out.
PDG: I don’t really blame him – he also has some of the sickest leg kicks I’ve ever seen.
Din: Oh believe me; you have to feel those things.
PDG: You’ve got to taste his leg kicks before [laughs]?
Din: His leg kicks, his headkicks, everything.
PDG: With Marcus’ fight what did you think of the sixteen-second armbar?
Din: Marcus is a wizard man. He probably has some of the best jiu-jitsu in MMA I think. His jiu-jitsu for MMA is just incredible. Sometimes he doesn’t get to display it that well because the circumstances or the nature of the fight; but when it comes to MMA his jiu-jitsu is sick. I’m telling you, when he gets on top of a guy you will really see it then.
PDG: Speaking of jiu-jitsu, down at American Top Team you have Marcelo [Garcia] down there; have you had a chance to roll and train with him at all?
Din: Yeah. He’s.......[laughs] All I can say man, he makes guys look like they have never trained a day in their life – he made me look like that actually. He’s still working on transitioning his ground stuff for MMA and dealing with punches, but when it comes to just ground it’s not even fun because he’s that good. He’s definitely pound-for-pound the best guy I have ever rolled with.
If you watch his videos he always does the arm drag or the x-guard, and take your back and choke you out; so you might think he’s a little one-dimensional and that is his game, but I’ll tell you what – he’s not! He has a lot of different dimensions to his game, and to me that is what separates him from everyone else – the layers and details of his game. One, he is freakishly athletic and coordinated when it comes to the ground – it is weird how he moves, it’s like effortless. And then, the details behind it are insane from every little aspect of each detail. While most guys try to get away with muscling things is that is never in his arsenal.
What I really like about him is that he is humble and really honest. If you ask him something and he’s not familiar with it he’ll be the first to tell you he’s not good at that. He’s a really good guy to be around. When it comes to jiu-jitsu he is definitely the best guy in the room by far, everyone looks up to him. There are a lot of good guys in there but when he’s around he is king when it comes to the ground.
PDG: That’s pretty cool. I know you are a black belt so you can probably appreciate it more than most other people, having someone like that to train and roll with.
Din: Yeah, for sure. When I am down there I try to get as much time with him as I can; like after practices I will go up and ask him questions about something. It just makes me realize that this guy shouldn’t be teaching – like I think he was talking about opening his own school, and I was thinking this guy should not be teaching regular people. Regular people won’t be able to grasp what he is trying to say and his concepts. It’s almost like taking a Harvard professor and having him teach kindergarten – having him teach regular people. You would have to be very advanced to understand his concepts. Even me, I look at him and I’m like “that is way too much for me, man” [laughs].
PDG: Do you think he’s going in his own direction – like Eddie Bravo expanded on Brazilian jiu-jitsu with his 10th Planet system?
Din: I don’t know. I think he’s going to try his share of fighting. He’s a smart guy too; anyone that does as much as he has with jiu-jitsu should be able to put it together in MMA. He pays attention and he’s very specific with detail. He’ll try fighting and see what happens. The only problem with him is that he is such a high-profile name that he will never get a fair shake at working his way up through the ranks. They will always want to put him up against top guys, and that’s not really fair for him. Everybody deserves an opportunity to see what they are made of in the environment where you get punched in the face.
PDG: Like Brock Lesnar.
Din: Yeah, Brock Lesnar had one fight then he faces the former champion of the UFC [Frank Mir]. It’s almost unfair for Brock to go through that – obviously he’s being paid enough money, but still.
PDG: Despite running through his first opponent, that is who he should have fought. Then if [the UFC] is going to have him face a notable opponent, don’t feed him to a jiu-jitsu black belt that will take advantage of his mistakes immediately.
Din: That could be marketing from the UFC too, saying wrestling is fake and we are going to prove it [laughs].
PDG: You see it also with – as much as I’m not a fan and I’m sick of hearing about him, Kimbo Slice. He’s doing what he should do and not stepping into face Mirko “Cro Cop” or Randy Couture.
Din: [Kimbo Slice] is definitely the epitome of marketing. He’s going to make a lot of money and he’s going to make EliteXC a lot of money. I don’t blame them for that. He’ll never be to the level of a really good fighter because he hasn’t put his time in and he’s way past his prime of fighting to get where he needs to be to compete with a really good heavyweight. He’ll never be able to compete with a legitimate heavyweight.
PDG: Yeah. It also broke my heart to hear when EliteXC debuts on network television that he is the main event over someone established, like Robbie Lawler – someone who has put his time in.
Din: It’s fighting, but at the end of the day it is entertainment and it is who can fill seats. When I went to the show in Miami I have never seen anything like it – yeah I can probably go on record to say it, I’ve never seen a crowd band together to be behind one guy as well as they did for Kimbo. It was insane how they reacted to him when he came out.
PDG: That level of fame is good for the sport too, because that brings a lot of new fans in.
Din: We can’t stand there and say “they should do this for Robbie Lawler.” Robbie Lawler should look at it like this “I’m on the Kimbo undercard, all these people will be there – I need to do something to make a name for myself so these people get behind me like they are behind him.” Everyone needs to look at these things as opportunities and not hate on Kimbo saying “what is he doing with all the fans?” Look at that as an opportunity to steal some of them from him.
PDG: Back to you, how was your knee doing once you got back into an actual fight?
Din: The knee was alright. This wasn’t my first time having the surgery done. I’ve had knee problems since the late 90’s. What really affected me in that fight was that it was a tough fight. He threw a lot of leg kicks, and I checked a lot of leg kicks. It was like one too many, and right now I’m limping around still. I think I tore a muscle in my calf just from checking leg kicks. I couldn’t stand up in that third round at all.
PDG: Fortunately for you your injury wasn’t as bad as someone like Martin Kampmann who last fought in March and is finally just coming back this summer.
Din: Yeah, fighting ain’t easy man [laughs]. You train hard and bang your body up, and then you go out there and fight and put it on the line. Matt Serra left me a message the other day and was like “You know, we don’t have desk jobs. When we have a bad day at work we don’t spill coffee on our favorite tie. It’s not an easy job.” It’s the truth. I know it is what we sign up for, but it is rough sometimes man. I’m dying to be able to walk again properly.
PDG: Do you have a timeframe for when you want to get back into fighting?
Din: I don’t know. I’m really going to take a little time off, actually. I love training, so slowly but surely I’m going to continue training. I’m working on my school for the next few months. I’m running a summer camp for kids this summer [laughs], so I’m kind of looking forward to that. I’m doing that this summer. We’ll see what happens. I’m not making any immediate plans right now, or looking towards fighting the next guy. I’m just going to lay low for a bit and see what happens.
PDG: With your school do you have any plans for any of your guys to compete at the NAGA event that will be down your way this summer?
Din: We always get a few guys to compete. Most of my guys though are pretty green. I don’t have anyone that I know of right now that is running the hills and training very hard to do that. Most of my guys are just average guys who want to learn and have a good time. For me that is all that I ask. I don’t ask them to try to be the next champ, or push them into a direction – I don’t give them standards that they have to live up to. I just want them to come train, learn, love the sport, and if you want to compete to test yourself – go ahead! That is all I ask.
PDG: You obviously have the resources for anyone that wants to be more serious, too.
Din: Yeah, for sure.
PDG: Speaking of NAGA, is jumping into grappling tournaments something you have interest in?
Din: I thought about doing jiu-jitsu with the gi actually, but that will be totally when my fighting days are over and I’m looking to compete.
PDG: I don’t know how much training you do in the gi, but I don’t have to tell you have vastly different it is rolling with and without one.
Din: Yeah. I like to teach with the gi and train a little in it, but if I was going to compete I would have to change my lifestyle completely and practically live in the gi before I compete. I’m a firm believer in being very prepared. I would have to train really hard with a gi on for a long time. Give me a couple years, I might.
PDG: That’s it from me; we can wrap things up here. If there are any sponsors you want to mention or anything you’d like to add the floor is yours.
Din: Yeah. I should give a shout-out to my sponsors who hooked me up last time. Definitely Hypoxico – who hooked me up with a high altitude machine, Sprawl, Zappos.com, Stagr, Warrior Wear – they always look out for me. Also, certainly post this, American Top Team from Coconut Creek to Port St. Lucie, and definitely last but not least American Top Team Orlando. That is about it, that is all I’ve got to say.
