Photo via UFC.com
For most of us, we’ve all felt the sting of losing someone close. The pain and anguish that comes with the passing of a close friend or family member.
What I can’t imagine though, is how many of us would know what it’s like to lose someone who has been a mentor, a best friend, someone who has helped push you in life to succeed, making you the person you are today.
For former UFC featherweight contender Mark ‘The Machine’ Hominick (20-9) the loss of Shawn Tompkins earlier this summer, someone who has helped define his career for fifteen years, brought all of those emotions in to play for the Canadian fighter.
Tompkins helped to train Hominick, along with other members of Team Tompkins such as Chris Horodecki and Sam Stout, and it’s in an interview with Yahoo! Cagewriter, ‘The Machine’ says that it’s his “legacy” that all of them are working toward now.
“The passing of Shawn was obviously beyond a shocker. He was the best man in my wedding. He was more than just a mentor in the sport. He became a life mentor for me. That’s a huge void, but everyone on our team has stepped up. We became closer because of it, because we know we all have to step up to try to fill that void. It’s our duty to carry on his legacy: to keep training, to keep winning, to keep performing in the cage.”
“This is going on 15 years that we’ve all been together. We’re a very tight-knit group, and that’s what we’re trying to stress right now. To keep that unity. Even Shawn’s dad stepped up. Shawn’s dad came into the gym and talked to the group, and Shawn’s brothers. Just kind of letting everyone know that we’re not sitting idly by. We’re working for his legacy.”
Hominick is scheduled to face Chan Sung Jung (aka ‘The Korean Zombie) in Toronto on December 10 at UFC 140, and it will be Hominick’s first fight since losing a title bout with champ Jose Aldo last April.