A former UFC fighter took a big step on Tuesday night at the Apex in Las Vegas.
The first episode of this year’s season of Dana White’s Contender Series didn’t live up to expectations last week.
This wasn’t the case in week two, where five contracts were handed out to each of the winners, with some impressive finishes and performances being put in.
While it may have been Josh Hokit who grabbed a lot of the attention with his bold comments, some fans chose to focus on a former UFC fighter who has been a consistent presence in the promotion for some time.
- LATEST NEWS: Dana White announces huge middleweight fight that could decide ‘challenger for Khamzat Chimaev’s title’
Fans praise Din Thomas after he makes his color commentary debut at the UFC Apex
For a long time, UFC fans have become used to hearing the voice of Din Thomas chiming in throughout the event broadcasts.
The nine-fight UFC veteran fought the likes of BJ Penn, Matt Serra and Jeremy Stephens inside the Octagon before going on to become a coach.
Before starting up his own team, Thomas was one of the main coaches at American Top Team where he worked alongside the likes of Amanda Nunes, Tyron Woodley and Dustin Poirier.
The 48-year-old has gone on to be an analyst for the promotion, with the commentary team often throwing to during the fights so that he can give some insight into what is taking place inside the Octagon.
On Tuesday night, Thomas was given the opportunity to make his color commentary debut, working alongside Dan Hellie and Daniel Cormier.
While, as always, some fans had complaints, the majority of the reactions to his full commentary debut were positive.
‘Shout out to Din Thomas, by the way,’ MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck wrote on X. ‘The man crushed it on the DWCS broadcast tonight. You could tell he dug in and did his homework. Really enjoyed hearing him in that role.’
Several reviews were posted underneath Heck’s statement, with praise also coming from elsewhere.
‘Can’t lie, I need a him and [Laura] Sanko pairing on a normal broadcast.’
‘Din is a treasure.’
‘Love Din Thomas on commentary already.’
‘Din Thomas>>>Joe Rogan.’
‘Shout out to Din Thomas on #DWCSWeek2 tonight! Always need more of his input on fight cards and this was a great step, albeit temporary.’
- LATEST NEWS: Khamzat Chimaev’s bitter enemy warns he could ‘kill’ MMA if he fights like he did at UFC 319 again
Din Thomas sparked a debate with his comments about Khamzat Chimaev
Before UFC 319, Din Thomas made a big claim about the impact that Khamzat Chimaev becoming the middleweight champion would have.
Despite ‘Borz’ being one of the biggest stars on the roster, Thomas said during an episode of The Bohnfire podcast that he believed Chimaev winning would be a “disaster”.
“You can’t tell me that a part of you is thinking, ‘This fight actually might not happen.’ … Some of these guys are just habitual in terms of not making it to the dance.
“If he does show up and he does win, do we trust him to be able to fight again?”
Fortunately for the fans, it looks like Chimaev intends to get back in there sooner rather than later, having expressed interest in fighting on the Abu Dhabi card in October.