With all due respect to Thomas, one of the UFC’s favorite veterans is a little past his twenties and even further from his teens. He was a little late to the party on the Nelk Boys, but he explains that they’re, creatively, some of the most impressive people he’s crossed paths with.
“When they started hanging out with Dana I got familiarized with them,” Thomas said. “They’re a group of young kids who do a lot of pranks and are creative, very courageous and I respect that. I got to have dinner with them one night and got to talking and they seem like down to Earth kids.”
Shoeys with the boys! ??@BamBamTuivasa and the @NelkBoys are a perfect match on #UFCFightIsland! pic.twitter.com/CecIRHSuSD
— UFC (@ufc) October 24, 2020
Much more than just “YouTubers who are MMA fans,” The Nelk Boys have begun running straight into the world on MMA branding and catching a lot of steam. You can’t have Tai Tuivasa’s patented celebration without them, Sean O’Malley doesn’t go quite as viral without them and the world definitely doesn’t hear Khabib Nurmagomedov’s solution to a loved one cheating with Jorge Masvidal without them.
They’ve completely shed the “YouTube prank channel guys” image with their growing number of business ventures, but Thomas knows they’re still capable of a prank or two, and there’s plenty of reason for him to watch his back when they’re around.
“I’ve got to keep my eyes open and I’ve got to be careful because I think they would try to prank me,” Thomas laughed. “I’m the one with the sense of humor and I don’t get mad easily, so I could see them trying to prank me.”
The Nelk Boys navigation of UFC cards isn’t exclusively with the Lookin’ For A Fight crew, but Thomas, Dana White and Matt Serra have their fair share of interactions with them and Thomas breaks down even further why they’re familiar enough now with their surroundings to know who to shoot for.
With ? on the line, @DinThomas didn’t fumble the bag ??
Dana White’s Looking for a Fight premiering 10 am PT ???????? on https://t.co/YEBaVg1nsi pic.twitter.com/RM5jpvPVVW
— UFC (@ufc) January 12, 2022
It may not be a matter of them wanting to prank Thomas; they may just not want to prank Serra or White.
“I don’t think they ever got Dana,” Thomas said. “I know they never got Matt because I think if they got Matt, Matt might swing on one of them, so they better be careful.”
While Thomas assumes that he’d be the brunt of the pranks, he isn’t totally sold that Steve and Kyle wouldn’t test the lines with Serra. He’d advise against it, but testing the waters between risky and stupid is something that’s turned the Nelk Boys into the brand they are today and it has paid off nicely.
“I asked one of them, ‘Isn’t all that kind of dangerous?’” Thomas said. “He said, ‘There’s excitement in the danger’ and that’s what they live for. They do things to put themselves on the edge and they take that chance and they take that risk and I have admiration for that.”
TJ and @DinThomas look back at one of the worst in-ring interviews of all time.#WranglingCats #ExtraRounds pic.twitter.com/jkOvZynXip
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 23, 2020
We don’t know if Steve and Kyle have any intentions on pranking Thomas or if it would even be caught on camera, but in case we don’t get to see a Din Thomas reaction, we will always have video footage of the only time somebody has publicly pushed Thomas a little too far.
Catch the Nelk Boys at James Krause’s FAC 12 for the filming of Dana White Lookin’ For a Fight: Kansas City by signing up TODAY for UFC FIGHT PASS!
