Robertson breaks silence on Din Thomas fallout after UFC 330 title loss to Dern

Gillian Robertson has spoken publicly for the first time since her strawweight title defeat to Mackenzie Dern at UFC 330, releasing a statement that casts serious doubt over the sincerity of longtime coach Din Thomas’s subsequent apology.

Thomas drew widespread criticism after announcing his retirement from corner work on the UFC 330 post-fight show — a broadcast Robertson says she had no warning about. “Prior to the broadcast, I didn’t see any sign of what was to be said,” Robertson said in her statement to The Ariel Helwani Show. She added that Thomas’s only communication before going public was to tell her he would “address this in the morning,” followed shortly by a message reading, “Going live on air in 15 minutes.”

Thomas later issued a public apology on his Deep Waters podcast, calling his own actions “despicable.” But Robertson says private messages that followed have undermined that apology entirely. “He did reach out to me privately at 5 p.m. and then sent a voice message apologizing around 7:30 p.m., to which I have not responded due to comments he has made since the broadcast privately to my team that lead me to believe there is not much weight in the apology, such as, ‘Me doing that publicly was more so for TV purposes and ratings,’” Robertson said.

The fallout has attracted attention from across the MMA world. UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland was among those to criticise Thomas, calling him “a shit coach” for the way he handled the situation.

Thomas has coached Robertson since she was 15 years old. The Canadian fighter made her UFC debut in 2017 and built a reputation as one of the most dangerous submission artists at flyweight before dropping to strawweight, where she won five consecutive bouts to earn her shot at Dern.

Whether Thomas remains involved in her career going forward is now very much in question. Robertson, however, appears focused on moving on. “I don’t think there’s a conversation to be had,” she said. “I’m good with everything. The people who sign my checks are cool. As for now, I regroup, take some time to heal, and I will be back in the gym as soon as possible on the same mission.”