· Open Media Workout With Shine’s Din Thomas And Ricardo Mayorga

· Article author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Posted on 05/10 at 11:11 AM

The tension was palpable at Los Angeles’ crowded West Side Boxing Gym, when Ricardo Mayorga stepped into the gym and moved his way through the press to watch his opponent Din Thomas work out in front of the cameras. Both fighters were in attendance as part of Shine Fights’ continuous campaign to draw interest to their May 15 pay-per-view “Worlds Collide: Mayorga vs. Thomas” event, to be held at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, N.C.

Mayorga, who attempted to get physical with Thomas at a press conference in New York three weeks prior, simply waved his hand, as if he was dismissing his opponent as he stepped into a room to change into proper work out attire.

After the former world junior middleweight boxing champion Mayorga stepped out of his changing room, he said something confrontational to Thomas in Spanish, and Thomas replied: “I’m just working out, go find something to do.”

Mayorga continued to mumble some obviously irritating statements as he stepped into the ring to show off his skills in front of the cameras. Thomas went on to continue with his workout.

Mayorga, a boxer with a record of 28 wins, seven losses and one no contest, will step into the cage for the first time as a mixed martial artist on May 15. Thomas (25-8), a UFC veteran, has not let the drama and controversy brought by Mayorga get to him.

“I’m pretty strong mentally, the external nonsense that is going on right now does nothing for me. I brush it off and I cut right through it and I get the job done. I don’t care about what he says and his foolishness,” Thomas said.

MMA Spot’s Breanna Armstrong caught up with Din Thomas shortly after his workout to discuss his preparation for his upcoming bout and how he has received Ricardo Mayorga’s antics leading up to this historic fight.

Armstrong: What is your response to your opponent’s claim that he will be taking you out in less than two minutes?

Thomas: “He can say what he wants, it’s easy to say anything, all he has to do is open his mouth. He can say he flew here, he can say what he wants to say, but I don’t see it happening.”

Armstrong: What is your response regarding his behavior at the New York press conference when he tried to get physical with you and actually smacked you?

Thomas: “I think he tries to get under my skin, he likes to do that to other fighters. He likes to talk and showboat and run his mouth, and I knew that coming in to this. But it’s a little different when you are face to face with him, because you don’t really expect that from another athlete. Of course people talk trash to hype themselves up, but it’s different when you are actually face to face with them. Again, I am mentally strong upstairs and at the end of the day he is going to have to step into the ring and it’s going to be me and him and whatever he said before ain’t going to matter and whatever he is going to say after, won’t matter.”

Armstrong: How are you feeling about the fight?

Thomas: “I feel 100 percent confident. I am ready. I was ready a month ago and I was ready when they announced the fight. I could have fought that day, I am always ready because I train year-round.”

Armstrong: How has the training and preparation gone for this fight?

Thomas: “I train with America Top Team, considering that we have over a dozen schools and I own two of them and am the head coach of another one, this is my responsibility to always stay in shape. This is not new to me; this is what I thrive off of. I just can’t wait until next Saturday.”

Armstrong: What do you want to say to your fans?

Thomas: “Wait ‘til next Saturday, man we are going to get busy, it’s going to be entertaining, it’s going to be exciting. I just can’t wait.”

Thomas and Mayorga go head to head this Saturday. The event will be distributed live on pay-per-view beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT by MultiVision Media, Inc.