ThePainFactory

PORT ST. LUCIE — Din Thomas, well-known in the Ultimate Fighting Championship world, was arrested Tuesday after police say he ran “illegal cage fighting” matches at a local training studio that he runs, a police spokesman said.

Thomas, 31, faces a felony prohibited competitions charge after police got a tip Oct. 19 about the matches at a facility he uses in St. Lucie West.

Inside, they observed two men fighting in an octagon-shaped ring surrounded by about 150 spectators. The fights reportedly weren't sanctioned.

The state Boxing Commission, which is part of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, licenses and regulates professional boxing and mixed martial arts in Florida, DBPR spokesman Sam Farkas said.

Amateur boxing matches are regulated and licensed by a sanctioning committee that's approved by the boxing commission, but no mixed martial arts fights are allowed at the amateur level.

“At the end of the day, he was having a professional mixed martial arts match that was not licensed through us,” Farkas said. “It was a case of unlicensed activity.”

Thomas is well known in the world of ultimate fighting, commonly known as mixed martial arts, a brutal combination of boxing, kickboxing and wrestling in a boxing ring or cage. The fighting is so intense that most fights are limited to three five-minute rounds.

Thomas, who lost last month to Kenny Florian in an Ultimate Fighting Championship match televised live on Spike TV, has a gym on South U.S. 1 near Port St. Lucie Boulevard. It’s named American Top Team Port St. Lucie (ATTPSL) because of an affiliation with American Top Team, a national organization with franchises across the country.

A Delaware native, Thomas was 12 when he moved with his family to Port St. Lucie, graduating from Port St. Lucie High School in 1994.

Dean, don't sound to good for you bro. What as you thinking.

what will the punishment for this be?

will he be banned from ufc?

I think its dumb how the police are making such a big deal out of it. They shoulda said "we're just training". I mean isn't that how tough man and ufc and all that started anyways was in desolate locations. I dont know what's wrong with that especially if there are other pro's there. Just my opinion.

If they had the regular MMA rules (i.e. no head butts, no kicks to the head of a downed opponent, no elbows to the back of the head, etc.) and someone that would really enforce the rules, experienced, somewhat evenly-matched fighters, and a qualified doctor and paramedics on hand, I don't really see anything wrong with it.