Din Thomas has been part of several title fights throughout UFC history, but none is more personally meaningful than Gillian Robertson’s crack at Mackenzie Dern‘s strawweight title at UFC 330.
Thomas has worked with multiple notable UFC champions throughout his coaching tenure. However, he has worked side-by-side with Robertson (17-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) since she was a teenager. She has experienced ups and downs inside the octagon, so seeing her finally reach the pinnacle of the sport for the Aug. 15 showdown with Dern (16-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia (Paramount+) hits particularly close to home – both figuratively and literally.
Advertisement
“This is just another opportunity to dare to be great,” Thomas told MMA Junkie. “I’ve cornered another UFC champion in Tyron Woodley during his reign. I’ve coached Amanda Nunes during her reign – never cornered her, but I’ve coached her throughout her reign. This is an opportunity to go out and corner and coach. This one is even more special because I’ve been with her for her whole journey, since she first walked into a gym. That makes it even more special because the relationship we have is just based on this and we’re making it to the top of the top. It’s even more special. And it’s on my son’s birthday, and it’s about 30 minutes from where I was born. The stars seem to be lining up for me to have a good night, so I’m really excited about the opportunity.”
Thomas knows these opportunities are not to be taken for granted. Despite being on a five-fight winning streak and 7-1 in her past eight bouts, Robertson was admittedly not the first choice to challenge Dern. That honor went to former two-time champ Zhang Weili, who never lost the belt in the cage before a failed move up to women’s flyweight against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322 in November.
Weili has opted to take a layoff from competition and wasn’t available. That means Robertson got the call, and Thomas said they intend to make the most of it.
“No stone is going unturned,” Thomas said. “I’m looking at every angle and one thing I’ll say, is more than anything in this world, I hate to be outreached. We can lose. We can get caught or get clipped, but I don’t want to go in there and think, ‘Damn, why didn’t I think of that.’ So I’m putting a lot of this brain into this fight to make sure I’ve got everything covered.”
Advertisement
On paper, Robertson vs. Dern looks like a grappler’s delight. Robertson, No. 6 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie strawweight rankings, has the most submission victories in women’s UFC history with seven, while No. 2-ranked Dern owns the strawweight tap out record with five.
Thomas said his fighter will be ready to go strength-for-strength with Dern on the mat, but revealed that Robertson will be fully prepared to compete on the feet, in the clinch and in every other scenario to ensure they leave the octagon with the belt at UFC 330.
“We’re exploring all the different paths, but it does make for an exciting battle between two of the most effective – not just in women’s divisions, or this division, but in all of the UFC – two of the most effective jiu-jitsu players who use their grappling to get to the finish line,” Thomas said. “Gillian has the most submissions and most finishes, and Mackenzie is just an absolute savage on the ground. I think it does make for an interesting matchup. It can play out a lot of different ways where you get two jiu-jitsu people where they just come out and box. I don’t necessarily foresee that happening, but there’s just a lot of ways it can play out. When it does hit the ground, it could be a lot of fun.”
To hear more from Thomas, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Din Thomas: Gillian Robertson UFC 330 title shot special moment as coach
