by DJ Mackie
UFC veteran and Ultimate Fighter alumnus Din Thomas (25-8) will soon be making his return to the cage for the first time in nearly two years when he meets George Sheppard (12-6) in October on the Fight Time 7 card in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Thomas was last seen in the spotlight when he was slated to face Ricardo Mayorga in May of last year under the Shine Fights promotion, a fight that fell through due to an injunction by Don King and left Thomas in a bit of limbo and in search of a fight. No fights ever came to fruition and Thomas has been in a hiatus from the sport since January of 2010. Thomas will be making his return riding a three fight winning streak that includes three stoppages, two in the first round going into his October match up, and will be looking to continue that streak with a stoppage over his much younger counterpart, George Sheppard.
George Sheppard is a 23 year old fighter who comes out of the MMA Institute camp in Virginia. He will be looking to pick up a victory over a very seasoned veteran in Din Thomas and will be looking to bounce back in a very big way from a split decision title loss that he suffered in July at the hands of Dakota Cochrane (9-1). Sheppard, a M-1 veteran had won two fights going into the bout before picking up the split decision loss and will be looking to use a win over a big name opponent in Thomas as a way to catapult himself back into the winning column and to gain a little bit national attention with a victory over a UFC veteran. Thomas is poised to not let that happen.
Din Thomas, who has spent a majority of his career at lightweight, battling such notables as Chris Lytle, Clay Guida, Kenny Florida, and BJ Penn in the UFC, has decided to make his way down to the Featherweight division and will use a victory over George Sheppard to get himself one step closer to being back in the octagon. He hasn’t fought since 2010, but will be looking to shake the ring rust early and pick up his forth stoppage in a row over the Virginia fighter in October. With a nearly two year absence from the cage or not, a forth stoppage in a row, especially over a 12-6 fighter who is 2-1 over his last two fights, will be a very impressive feat and if the American Top Team product can accomplish stoppage number four, it should lead him one step closer to being back in the UFC.
Din Thomas will battle George Sheppard for Fight Time Promotions on October 7th in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the War Memorial Audotorium. For all of your ticket information please visit the Fight Time website and be sure to not miss the return of UFC veteran Din Thomas as he main events this very exciting night of fights
