American Top Team’s Din Thomas checked in at 158.6 pounds for his long-awaited showdown with former two-division boxing champion Ricardo Mayorga (159.8) in the Shine Fights 3 “Worlds Collide” headliner on Saturday at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, N.C. The event will air live on pay-per-view.
Thomas has rattled off three straight wins since being cut by the UFC in wake of his April 2008 decision loss to Josh Neer. The 33-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has delivered 21 of his 25 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. A semi-finalist on Season 4 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Thomas owns wins over one-time UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, former UFC lightweight king Jens Pulver, former two-division Deep titleholder Dokonjonosuke Mishima and former Strikeforce lightweight champion Clay Guida.
Mayorga -- perhaps best known for his victories against the late Vernon Forrest in 2003 -- holds a 28-7-1, 1 NC record as a professional boxer. The 36-year-old Nicaraguan last fought in September 2008, when he suffered a 12th-round knockout at the hands of Shane Mosley in Carson, Calif. He has never before competed in mixed martial arts.
Shine Fights 3 “Worlds Collide”
Saturday, May 15
Crown Coliseum
Fayetteville, N.C.
Din Thomas (158.6) vs. Ricardo Mayorga (159.8)
Murilo “Ninja” Rua (191) vs. David Heath (191.2)
Luiz Azeredo (152.8) vs. Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett (155.8)
Alexandre Ferreira (204.2) vs. Jamal Patterson (205.8)
Braulio Estima (179.4) vs. Rick Hawn (175.2)
Derrick Noble (169.2) vs. Eduardo Pamplona (168.2)
Mario Stapel (149) vs. Zac George (150)
Roger Carroll (183.8) vs. Paulo Souza (185.8)