UFC vet Din Thomas submits prospect Cody Bollinger at Pure MMA 2 in Pennsylvania

14 year MMA pro Din Thomas (26-8) refused to pass the torch in the main event of Pure MMA 2. 21 year old prospect Cody Bollinger (12-3) was pitted opposite Thomas for the Pennsylvania's promotion's second card. The fight for Thomas was his first in over two years and comes after a car crash in October scrapped the 35 year old's last bout.

After avoiding Thomas' initial strike attempts Bollinger scored points with an aggressive takedown. Off his back Thomas threw up submission holds that halted Bollinger's efforts at offense from the top. Bollinger, a product of Joe Stevenson's Cobra Kai gym, battled out of Thomas' first armbar attempt but had more trouble with the second arm bending maneuver.

Thomas locked onto Bollinger's arm just past the two minute mark and did not let go. The four star featherweight prospect was forced to tap out at the 2:09 mark of round one. Thomas has now won his last four fights via stoppage or submission.

The loss for Bollinger snaps a four fight winning streak. Bollinger last loss came at the hands of lightweight prospect Magno Almeida (9-3) by first round armbar in July 2010. A lanky 5'10 featherweight, Bollinger viewed the fight with Thomas as the final step prior to a eventual UFC contract.

Bollinger is roughly one to two wins away from a big league call-up and the California fighter remains a four star prospect at 145 pounds. In the latest ULTMMA.com prospect rankings Bollinger hits the number 10 spot in the unsigned featherweight top 20.

Pure MMA 2 Next Episode results
Wilkes-Barre, PA

Din Thomas def. *Cody Bollinger by submission armbar 2:09 R1
Waylon Lowe def. Mike Diggs by TKO (strikes) 3:13 R2
Pete Martin def. Michael Byrnes by unanimous decision
*Rustam Khabilov def. Jason Dent by unanimous decision
William Miller def. Andrew Osborne by submission guillotine choke R1
Lazaro Gonzalez def. Craig Moyer by submission guillotine choke 0:19 R1
Eddie Ramos def. James Watts by submission guillotine choke 1:51 R1
Brett Martinez def. Kenneth Nagle by submission rear naked choke 1:54 R1

*Prospect to watch