Mark Hominick will be looking to return to the original ways of “The Machine” when he faces veteran Eddie Yagin at UFC 145 in Atlanta. “The Machine” nickname has been well earned over the years as Mark is well known and respected for his almost robot-like dedication to discipline, focus and constant training and improvement.
2011 tested him in many ways inside and outside the cage and understandably, we saw a different Hominick in the cage than we were used to. It is hard for anyone in the world to dictate a fight against UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo and Hominick battled as hard as he could even though he lost a decision.
We didn’t see the real “Machine” in his next fight either, a shockingly quick loss to Chan Sung Jung at UFC 140 in Toronto. His back against the wall, Hominick is looking to get back to what got him to this point in his career with a win against Yagin.
“Exactly, that’s what I’m focused on. You know the last one, there were so many things in my head in play that I wanted to prove so much and I fought out of character and I payed the price for fighting out of character. So this one, I’m just focused on getting a win,” Hominick said this week, while he trained at his gym, The Adrenaline Training Center.
“I’m not worried about where it puts me in the title hunt or anything like that. I’m just looking to go out there, I want to put on a great performance and a great win and that’s what I’m focused on.”
It’s clear that Hominick has a lot of respect for and knowledge about Eddie Yagin.
“He’s a veteran. He’s had almost fifteen years of fighting. I remember fighting in 2002 in Hawaii and he was one of the headline fights back then. He’s fought in basically every organization that’s around. He’s fought in the day when you know he’s 5’5 and fighting at 170 so, he’s just a scrapper. He comes to fight so it’s a great matchup for me and I’m looking forward to it.
Fight fans throughout Canada and the world are looking forward to seeing the return of “The Machine” on April 21st.
Please see the entire video interview attached as Mark talks about the new documentary film “Fight Spirit Pride” which follows his career between 2006 to the present, with an exclusive behind the scenes look at balancing his career in the UFC and being there for his ailing father.
He also talks about the valuable relationship that Adrenaline and Team Tompkins share with Team Curran in Chicago.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA Editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca
Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.
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