Din Thomas issued a public apology on his Deep Waters podcast for comments he made about Gillian Robertson following her loss to Mackenzie Dern in the UFC 330 co-main event in Philadelphia, but text messages Robertson shared with Ariel Helwani suggest the coach undercut that apology in private conversations with her team.
Thomas served as Robertson’s head coach for the flyweight title match, which she lost to Dern. About 90 minutes after the match, while working the UFC broadcast desk, Thomas told the post-show cameras he was retiring from cornering athletes.
He also stated that Robertson had “gone as far as she could go” and that he was “done.” The comment drew immediate backlash, with John Anik among those who spoke out against it.
Two days later, on his own podcast, Thomas walked the comments back, calling them a mistake. Helwani said Thomas told viewers, “I screwed up. It was despicable. I should have never said it.”
Helwani reached out to Robertson to find out whether she had been given any warning before either broadcast.
She responded, and gave Helwani permission to publish her reply. “Prior to the broadcast, I didn’t see any sign of what was to be said,” she wrote, referring to the Saturday show.
She said that after the broadcast, Thomas only told her, “I will address this in the morning,” shortly before going live on his podcast Monday to apologize.
According to Robertson, Thomas reached out to her privately at 5 p.m. that Monday and followed up with a voice message around 7:30 p.m. As of her message to Helwani, she had not responded.
She explained why, saying comments Thomas made to her team since the original broadcast left her doubting the apology was sincere. She quoted the sentiment as suggesting Thomas felt “doing that publicly was more so for TV purposes and ratings.”
Robertson added, “I don’t think there’s a conversation to be had. 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.”
Helwani said he asked Robertson directly whether she still wanted to work with Thomas, but she had not responded to that question.
