Din Thomas retires from cornering after Robertson's lopsided UFC 330 title loss to Dern

Din Thomas stepped away from cornering fighters on Saturday night after Gillian Robertson was dominated by Mackenzie Dern in a strawweight title fight at UFC 330 in Philadelphia, with Dern retaining her belt in one-sided fashion.

Robertson had no answer for Dern either on the mat or in the stand-up, and Thomas used the post-show to announce that the defeat would be his last as a cornerman. The 26-9 veteran, who retired from fighting in 2013 and has since worked as a UFC analyst, said his goal had always been to guide Robertson as far as she could go — and he believes that ceiling has now been reached.

“I told myself I would continue to do this until I took Gillian as far as she could go,” Thomas said. “I think that might be as far as she can go and I am officially retiring from cornering fighters tonight. I’m doing the Matt Serra, I’m no longer cornering fighters… I’ll still work with guys. I just don’t want to go down the road. It’s a lot of work; it’s a lot of stress. You got to be there all week. I don’t cut weight with them; it’s not fair to them. They need somebody who’s going to put in that type of work in with them.”

Thomas made clear that his decision is not a full withdrawal from the sport. He intends to continue working with fighters in a training capacity but cited the demands of fight week — including the commitment of cutting weight alongside athletes — as a key reason he no longer wants the responsibility of being in the corner on fight night.

A semifinalist on The Ultimate Fighter in 2006, Thomas had three separate stints inside the UFC as a competitor before hanging up his gloves. His transition into cornering was a natural extension of his coaching work, but Saturday’s result in Philadelphia appears to have drawn a firm line under that chapter of his career.