UFC lightweight Sam ‘Hands of Stone’ Stout (17-6-1) recently lost his coach, friend, and brother-in-law Shawn Tompkins, who suffered a heart attack in his sleep earlier this month.
Stout had been scheduled to fight Dennis Siver in October at UFC 137, but pulled out of the fight recently.
Speaking to famed commentator Mauro Ranallo on The Score MMA Show Podcast, Stout offered some details on the bond he shared with Tompkins over their years together.
“Shawn (Tompkins) has been my coach since I got into the sport, since I’ve never had a fight, dating back to my kickboxing career, I’ve never had a fight without him training me for it and without him being in my corner. I’m not one of these guys whose jumped around from coach to coach over the years and trained with lots of people. He’s taught me really everything that I know about mixed martial arts and not only that, he was a lot more than that to me. He was a brother and a trusted friend and confidant and really my mentor. Definitely the most influential person in my life.”