Din Thomas recently made headlines when he stepped away from American Top Team after working with them for nearly two decades. 

The split, although amicable, left some questions about where we’d see Din Thomas pop up next. Ultimately, Thomas stated that he just wants to travel all over and work with different fighters in different places without being tethered to a brick and mortar business. 

Although this seems like a radical change for both him and how we traditionally see coaches in MMA, Thomas feels that this is going to be the future of how MMA training camps happen. 

“I think that’s the direction that the game is going to go eventually anyways. I mean if you look at the model of boxing, it is kind of the way boxing is,” Thomas explained of the travelling. “I think that’s the direction that the game is going and I want to get a head start on it.”

The idea of coaches moving to fighters rather than the other way around may confuse MMA fans. This is especially true when you look at the size and spectacle that is some of these larger gyms like ATT, Jackson-Wink, or AKA. Thomas points out though, that this concept is one that is there due to a combination of money and tradition. 

“I think the way that MMA is trained now is based on economics and history. Most people that get into MMA now, started in a jiu jitsu academy or from wrestling and are used to these big rooms with everybody - that’s just kind of the way that it is,” he explains. “But if you look at the way champions train, champions don’t really train that way. Champions build a team around them. They are not in a big room. When you have the money to buy sparring partners and buy a coach because that’s the best work you’re going to get - that’s the way it’s going to be done. That’s the most effective way to train somebody - to build a team around that person.”

Of course this begs the question ‘when?’. When do we see this colossal shift in the way that MMA fighters train and see a model that is far closer to boxing? While not able to give all that specific of a timeline, Thomas does believe it isn’t that far away. 

“Eventually when fighters are making more money, they aren’t going to be going into a room full of everybody doing a kind of cookie cutter mold of training.They are going to build teams around them. Eventually that’s going to happen. Fighters are going to be making more money so they can do that more. When fighters can afford it, everybody is going to be building teams around them,” Thomas said. “I’m not sure [when it’ll happen], that’s yet to be determined. It’s something I never really thought about as far as when it’s going to happen, and if you were to ask me ten years ago ‘would we be where we are today in MMA?’ I would tell you absolutely not. Everything has surpassed my expectations. So I would think within the next couple of years guys are going to be doing it.”

To add to his vision, he believes the UFC has already set up some structures that allow an even easier ease into this world. 

“If you think about it, the biggest organization in the world has the Performance Institute, and I think that’s where a lot of the training will be done and set up,” he shared. “A lot of guys are going to start getting Airbnbs in Vegas and setting up their camps in the Performance Institute. And they are going to be hiring their sparring partners, they’re going to be hiring their coaches, and they’re going to be getting it done as opposed to this team atmosphere. Most people just can’t afford to do it the other way yet.”

We’ll have to wait and see Thomas’ next move and future clients to see whether he becomes a trailblazer for this type of coaching and training.