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« | Home | »

Din Thomas arrested

By Zach Arnold | October 30, 2007

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By Zach Arnold

The Vero Beach Press-Journal in Florida is reporting that Din Thomas was arrested by local police on Tuesday for running ‘illegal cage fighting’ matches at his training facility. More details at MMA HQ.

Read the comments already posted on that article.

Update: Things are not looking good for Din Thomas:

Robert Vega with the Port St. Lucie Police Department said that during one of the matches, one of the men was knocked unconscious and that there was no hired medical staff at the event to aid him.

More on this story in The Palm Beach Post and at TC Palm.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

22 Responses to “Din Thomas arrested”

  1. Sheldon says:

    There is some serious comedy in those posts. I like how Din is keeping crime off the streets by having these fights….

  2. Dru Down says:

    Very unfortunate- sounds like a typical smoker. This might be a sign of some of the negative attention the sport will receive now that it’s in the public eye. There was a certain amount of freedom that came from flying under the radar.

    Also, LOL at “Operation Schwinn,” and cuffing Din to the handelbars.

  3. First thing I thought…

    He can’t fight so he’s supplementing his income.

  4. Ultimo Santa says:

    “Din Thomas, almost a legend in the ultimate fighting world, was arrested Tuesday”

    They’re throwing around the word ‘legend’ a little haphazardly, aren’t they?

    But seriously, this is typical head-up-the-ass logic that us used to enforce law in the U.S. (and here in Canada).

    Tax dollars are being used to incarcerate and prosecute Din Thomas for charging $10 a pop to watch MMA sparring? Great. I’m sure the residents of Port St. Lucie will sleep better tonight knowing that no illegal sports are occurring in their town.

    In Florida the crime rates are absolutely skyrocketing in some areas, with murder, rape, assault and home invasion. Time and effort should be allocated to preventing those ACTUAL crimes. Once it’s safe to walk down the street in Florida’s major cities, THEN you can go after those evil cage fighters.

  5. Yeah, you’re basically seeing them use a law which was created to prevent gangsters from running illegal fight clubs and applying it to a situation it was never intended to cover.

  6. Interesting how it says “ultimate fighting, commonly known as mixed martial arts”. Maybe it’s just me but for the sport as a whole it’s MMA, not ultimate fighting. They also call it a “brutal” sport. Some interesting comments on the news story.

  7. Ultimo Santa says:

    “Yeah, you’re basically seeing them use a law which was created to prevent gangsters from running illegal fight clubs and applying it to a situation it was never intended to cover.”

    True enough, but even still: shutting down illegal fight clubs (even ones run by gangsters) – on a scale of 1-10 in terms of keeping the public safe – is a 1.

    People getting shot in the face while walking down the street? I’m gonna go out on a limb and rate that a 10.

    I think Florida needs to prioritize their law enforcement STAT.

  8. Xtreme Couture MMA says:

    The DIn Thomas arrest brings up an interesting topic in our sport that needs to be discussed. Right now there is virtually no way to legally hold amateur MMA fights or smokers. In Nevada, where we are located, you have to go through all of the regulatory procedures and get $20k bonds for each combatant in an amateur bout. Everything is the same as putting on a UFC or WEC level Pro Fight except that the fighters don’t get paid.

    Fighters need to be able to fight at the amateur level before going pro. I’ve spoken with Keith Kizer of the NSAC several times about this and we’re working on setting something up to sanction fights out here. Personally I’d like to see the guys use 6 or 8 oz gloves and shin pads. No elbows or knees to the face. No closed fist punches to the face on the ground. At that point a simple physical should be enough to qualify fighters and they wouldn’t need MRI’s, etch which are expensive.

    I’m not sure if people realize this or not but at the early stages of a fighter’s career they have to pay for their own MRI, MRA and blood tests. Basically anyone making less than $1500 for their first fight are coming out of pocket to be able to be a professional fighter. At $1500 to fight you are more or less breaking even and will be making money on subsequent fights during the year period the MRI covers.

    Fighters should have an amateur route to see if they are good enough/have it to be a pro fighter without going pro. All of the other sports including boxing have that. In boxing fighters pay a fee to USA boxing and have secondary insurance for all USA boxing sanctioned events they participate in.

    I can’t speak on the fights Din was running, as I have no details about them. But I doubt very much he was running a Bloodsport type of underground fight league. As a fighter I’m sure he had a doctor on hand and a ref to step in when someone was in trouble. I hope so anyway.

    Our last boxing/Muay Thai smoker we had 3 doctors on hand and Mike Pyle who refereed stopped the bouts as soon as a fighter was in trouble.

  9. Xtreme Couture MMA says:

    Also, the problem in Din’s case likely comes from him charging money for people to come watch the fights. If he doesn’t charge money and the door is closed, those can be called sparring sessions.

  10. Ben says:

    Very interesting comments from Xtreme Couture MMA (I’d really rather see a name, though, no?). Incidentally, initial reports say there were no doctors on hand, and that seems to be the big problem for most of us.

  11. Xtreme Couture MMA says:

    It’s Sean O’Heir, the PR Director.

    No Doctors is a mistake on Din’s part, if that’s true.

  12. Ben says:

    I thought so, but I felt better knowing for sure.

    I am always inclined to believe folks are innocent until proven guilty and all that, so I’ll wait for the definite details on what Din did. It sounds like he was cooperative with authorities and didn’t play coy.

    On the one hand, I want to say: hey, at least it wasn’t drugs or steroids. On the other hand, I think: is that really the standard? At least he wasn’t doing drugs? That’s a sad commentary on the sport at the moment.

  13. white ninja says:

    absolute jole in Florida. bad luck for Din. but going mainstream involved a lot of pushback from a lot of places. start getting used to it, this is the price you pay for mainstream attention

  14. klown says:

    Bill O’Reilly threatens Mark Cuban!

    On a typical rant against the “radical left” O’Reilly singles out Mark Cuban for producing (?) a movie depicting US soldiers committing atrocities. Says something like, “Listen up buddy – you pull that film or I’m gonna be your worst nightmare”.

    A potential excoriation of Mark Cuban would surely have an MMA dimension, no?

  15. Ben says:

    Who’s Bill O’Reilly? Sounds like a nobody blowhard to me. I wouldn’t bother paying any attention to him…

    (Yes, I know who he is. No, I don’t think people like him, no matter what perspective they are acting – err, speaking from, should ever be taken seriously.)

  16. ilostmydog says:

    I think people on the right were getting upset when some Turkish film company made a similar movie with evil US soldiers rounding up Iraqi’s for an evil Jewish doctor to experiment on. Tito Ortiz played an evil soldier in the film, ironically enough. It’s a bit much when people rage against movies that don’t suit their personal views, especially when you consider how many mainstream films in North America either dehumanize or stereotype foreigners to the extreme.

  17. grafdog says:

    Actually in the movie “Valley of wolves” Tito plays a “good” soldier who stands up to an “evil” soldier, and is killed for it by the evil soldier.
    Its a b grade actioner with some real events from iraq (abu graib, the wedding massacre, etc…)thrown in to give it some weight. The mad jewish doctor is metaphor for who is really starting and controlling these conflicts.

    Cuban is a rich jew who can do whatever he wants, if he wants to fund a critical movie about mistreatment in iraq then get lambasted for it on a show like O’reilly then he can do it. If he wants to team up with some other rich jews to take over mma he can do that also.

  18. Din was not charging money. It was a voluntary raffle. Not everyone paid, and the funds went to support fighter training. There were modified rules including no elbows, no knees to the face, and very cautious judging. Some fighters complained because the fights were called by the judge when submissions were not even fully tight. In other words, unlike training, fighters did not necessarily get to work out of armbars. It was a very very controlled situation. Nothing that does not take place in training. How many knockouts happen in football practice? It is a collision sport, get over it. The problem is that there are too many fools who want to water down this sport so that they can get the balls to participate. Imagine if high school football was watered down so that those not cut out could participate. Go back to padded fast food TKD and stop watering down a great sport so you can get your man card stamped.

    the point of this was to get fighters used to fighting in front of a crowd. give them experience so they would be more ready for the real thing. i think the idea of a “dress rehersal” is a damn good idea.

  19. MMA Fan says:

    its the end of the month. they had to meet their quato… busting din makes better headlines then a few more traffic stops.

  20. ilostmydog says:

    I was backing Din before it came out that he had no doctors present. That’s just careless.

  21. Kano says:

    dlk has about the most accurate depiction of what went on. I can assure you…what you’ve read in the news cetainly doesn’t provide very many facts. There were paramedics on site (in clear view of the police) watching and helping out on a voluntary basis as anyone else involved. There were no submissions holds applied (so that part is inaccurate)…so any fights stopped were done so with the fighters safety in mind…just as the fighters were advised prior to the demonstration. No elbows or knees to the head were permitted.

    Where exactly are the police coming up with the number of people attended…there was no count…they never took any names of the individuals in the crowd…it was however extremely exaggerated. The police didn’t seize any money to determine whether everyone was charged as they allege…which again is a fabrication. this is simply a witch hunt, which most will find in the end has very little merit. The cops sat and watched the fights (even clapping at times) for some time and one of them even admitted that he wasn’t sure if there was anything wrong with what was being done. I hope everyone can at least recognize that nobody would be stupid enough to knowingly commit a crime right in front of the police.

    if anyone was around when mixed martial arts competition first started…it wasn’t well received, which is reflected under the current laws. the bottom line is that the sport is gaining more popularity each year. It’s imprudent and dangerous not to allow martial artists to train under simulated conditions to determine if they are ready for a sactioned fight. I don’t however, condone backyard fighting. However, it is time to get some changes made so people can train without fear of prosecution.

    the bottom line is that there have been no deaths in the United States since mixed martial arts was introduced…not that I’m aware of anyway. I certainly don’t see the competition any more dangerous than doing a backflip on a motorcycle while 40 feet in the air like they do in the Xgames.

    it’s a good thing with all the illegal immigration, crime, and government corruption that the police focus their attention on something important as individuals trying to make a career in mixed martial arts. way to go…all they’ve succeeding in doing is presuming an honest business owner guilty until proven innocent, while defaming his name in the process. i guess you can’t expect much from a cop that patrols on bicycle.

    Take a look at all the deaths associated with professional wrestling and tell me if MMA is a bigger problem.

    Chris Von Erich – 21
    Mike Von Erich – 23
    Louie Spiccoli – 27
    Art Barr – 28
    Gino Hernandez – 29
    Jay Youngblood – 30
    Rick McGraw – 30
    Joey Marella – 30
    Ed Gatner – 31
    Buzz Sawyer – 32
    Crash Holly – 32
    Kerry Von Erich – 33
    D.J. Peterson – 33
    Eddie Gilbert – 33
    The Renegade – 33
    Owen Hart – 33
    Chris Candido – 33
    Adrian Adonis – 34
    Gary Albright – 34
    Bobby Duncum Jr. – 34
    Yokozuna – 34
    Big Dick Dudley – 34
    Brian Pillman – 35
    Marianna Komlos – 35
    Pitbull #2 – 36
    The Wall/Malice – 36
    Leroy Brown – 38
    Mark Curtis – 38
    Eddie Guerrero – 38
    John Kronus – 38
    Davey Boy Smith – 39
    Johnny Grunge – 39
    Vivian Vachon – 40
    Jeep Swenson – 40
    Brady Boone – 40
    Terry Gordy – 40
    Bertha Faye – 40
    Billy Joe Travis – 40
    Chris Benoit – 40
    Larry Cameron – 41
    Rick Rude – 41
    Randy Anderson – 41
    Bruiser Brody – 42
    Miss Elizabeth – 42
    Big Boss Man – 42
    Earthquake – 42
    Mike Awesome – 42
    Biff Wellington – 42
    Brian Adams (Crush) – 43
    Ray Candy – 43
    Nancy Benoit (Woman) – 43
    Dino Bravo – 44
    Curt Hennig – 44
    Bam Bam Bigelow – 45
    Jerry Blackwell – 45
    Junkyard Dog – 45
    Hercules – 45
    Andre the Giant – 46
    Big John Studd – 46
    Chris Adams – 46
    Mike Davis – 46
    Hawk – 46
    Dick Murdoch – 49
    Jumbo Tsuruta – 49
    Rocco Rock – 49
    Sherri Martel – 49
    Moondog Spot – 51
    Ken Timbs – 53
    Uncle Elmer – 54
    Pez Whatley – 54
    Eddie Graham – 55
    Tarzan Tyler – 55
    Haystacks Calhoun- 55
    Giant Haystacks – 55
    The Spoiler – 56
    Kurt Von Hess – 56
    Moondog King – 56
    Gene Anderson – 58
    Dr. Jerry Graham – 58
    Bulldog Brown – 58
    Tony Parisi – 58
    Rufus R. Jones – 60
    Ray Stevens – 60
    Stan Stasiak – 60
    Terry Garvin – 60
    Boris Malenko – 61
    Little Beaver – 61
    Sapphire – 61
    Shohei Baba – 61
    Dick the Bruiser – 62
    Wilbur Snyder – 62
    George Cannon – 62
    Karl Krupp – 62
    Dale Lewis – 62
    Gorilla Monsoon – 62
    Hiro Matsuda – 62
    Bad News Brown – 63
    Bulldog Brower – 63
    Wahoo McDaniel – 63

  22. Gabriel says:

    Din Thomas, is a great fighter it’s very bad but i expected it.

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