Issue 081

November 2011

I first met Shawn Tompkins in 2007. He had taken over as the head coach for the IFL Anacondas and had relocated to Las Vegas from where he was coaching at Team Quest. We talked about the IFL, Team Quest and his plans to take Xtreme Couture’s stand-up to another level, but Shawn made it clear that the fighters closest to his heart were his Canadian fighters who would be coming down to Couture’s to train with him: Sam Stout, Mark Hominick, and Chris Horodecki. 

He told me: “Stout couldn’t throw a punch before he came to me,” and, “Chris Horodecki has been with me since he was about 13 years old and Mark Hominick,” I interrupted: “I know Mark Hominick. He is a talented guy.” Shawn looked at me and smiled: “These guys will carry on my fighting system long after I am gone.” 

That rings out in my mind today. We all know about the wars with Stout and Spencer Fisher, Hominick with José Aldo and Horodecki’s IFL battles, but Shawn cared about every Team Tompkins member equally. Fighters lived with Shawn and his wife Emilie, Stout’s older sister. She seemed to fit right into this lifestyle. 

Shawn won and lost with his fighters. I recall after both Hominick and Horodecki had suffered defeats, but Stout won in the UFC, I was sitting in the press section and as Shawn and Sam walked by me, Horodecki met them with open arms. He was crying due the emotions of the fight. “We did it. WE did it!” Chris yelled out. Afterwards Shawn came up to me and said: “We needed that one Gary, we really needed that win tonight.” What stood out was not Stout’s victory. It was the fact that they won. Team Tompkins won together. 

My first trip to Canada was for Shawn and Emilie’s wedding in Ontario, when his beloved boxer ‘Cowboy’ even wore a tuxedo. I actually filmed the day for a mini documentary. I interviewed both families and everyone had the same things to say: Shawn is an amazing man. Yes, he is a great coach, but above all he is a great leader. When all hell breaks loose you get behind the blonde guy! 

 I remember asking Emilie and Sam’s father about his feelings on his daughter marrying an MMA coach. “I trusted Shawn with my son’s life, and I trust him with my daughter’s. He is a good man,” Stout Snr said convincingly. 

When I heard the news that Shawn had passed away, it was the same way most people heard, on the UFC broadcast. I was stunned. Numb. And as I write this I still am. He and I had talked not long before his passing. He was healthy, had lost weight, was taking time for himself and his family and was doing what he loved: training martial artists. 

I’ll miss the conversations myself and Shawn will never have about comedy, music and fighting, but I’ll fondly recall the conversations we did have. I see the work he put in with those fighters and his family. I remember how he loved his dogs and how he laughed and smiled every time I saw him. I remember how he supported MMA and it’s fighters. I remember my friend, ‘The Coach,’ and I can smile. 

Shawn Tompkins 1974-2011

ALDO EXPECTS MANY CHALLENGERS AT FEATHERWEIGHT

UFC featherweight champion José Aldo says he doesn’t think forthcoming opponent Kenny Florian or contender Chad Mendes to be the last of the UFC featherweight division’s number-one contenders. 

Stating that both men were “high-level challenges,” Aldo said: “[The] featherweight division is one of the most complicated and tough classes in UFC. Every day there are new great fighters. I don’t know where these guys come from (laughs).” Aldo puts his belt on the line against Kenny Florian at UFC 136 in October.

MITRIONE EXPECTS ‘SEXY’ FIGHT WITH KONGO

Former NFL player and current UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione said he’s excited about a UFC 137 matchup with French striker Cheick Kongo, stating his opponent has a “sexy” style. Mitrione said: “I think that Cheick is such a known fighter, such a known commodity with such a sexy style, as far as I’m concerned. For me it’s going to be a damn sexy fight. I’m really excited to just get in there and just be tested.” 

The popular Mitrione is 5-0 in his MMA and UFC careers since appearing on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, while Kongo is coming off a ‘Knockout of the Year’ candidate in a June win over Pat Barry.

125

UFC president Dana White has said he expects to add the 125lb flyweight division to the promotion in early 2012

205lb

The weight, in pounds, that waistline-endowed UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson predicts he will eventually make with the help of his new hush-hush training program