Thomas retires after Robertson loses UFC 330, 49-46, 49-46, 48-47

Mackenzie Dern retained the UFC strawweight championship against Gillian Robertson by unanimous decision at UFC 330, winning 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 on the judges’ scorecards. The bout took place at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena and served as the co-main event.

The defeat ended Robertson’s first opportunity to win a UFC title. It was also Dern’s first successful defence of the 115-pound belt. Robertson had been viewed as a serious grappling threat, but she struggled to impose that part of her game for long periods against the champion.

Dern stopped Robertson’s early attempts to take the fight down and produced the cleaner striking exchanges. She also repeatedly gained top control and put Robertson on the canvas. In the opening round, Dern took Robertson’s back and came close to securing a rear-naked choke before the horn.

The champion returned to strong positions in the second, third and fourth rounds while looking for submission opportunities. Robertson improved in the final round, completing a takedown and holding top position for a period, but the late surge did not overturn Dern’s advantage across the contest.

After the fight, Thomas announced that he would no longer work as a cornerman. He said he had accompanied Robertson through her journey as far as he believed was possible, and that the result marked the point at which he would step away from cornering fighters.

Thomas later pointed to the demands of the job, particularly the need to commit fully throughout fight week and support athletes during the weight-cut process. He said he could not provide that level of involvement in future. His decision concerns cornering rather than necessarily ending his wider role in MMA, where he has also worked as a fighter and analyst. UFC chief executive Dana White said he had not known about the decision in advance and suggested the demands of working with fighters may have influenced it.