With only a couple days away from WEC 51, “The Coach” Shawn Tompkins gives MMAFix a personal written interview from his hotel room in Denver, Colorado as he prepares both Featherweight Mark Hominick and Lightweight Chris Horodecki for the biggests tests in their careers. Hominick is on a 3 win fight streak facing Leonard Garcia and Horodecki is 1-1 in the WEC, looking to break that even record with a win against Ed Ratcliff. And amidst his already brutal schedule, Tompkins has another fight on his mind…just the UFC Middleweight Championship fight with Vitor Belfort…
1. What can you reveal to us of your knowledge on TapouT brand being sold to billionaire Warren Buffett and does any of this positively or negatively effect your position as Head Coach of TapouT Training Center in Las Vegas?
Actually the rumour of Warren Buffet buying Tap Out is untrue, this I believe was something that started on a forum website and unfortunately people tend to believe everything they read on these MMA Forums. What really happened was a good friend of the Team Tompkins family from Toronto, Ontario, Canada Jamie Salter purchased the company along with SilverStar. Jamie is very much involved with and interested in the Xtreme Sports business so to him MMA makes alot of sense. It also helped that his son is not only best friends with Sam Stout (my brother in law) but he is also a student of his. Ultimately Jamie Salter got into the business to run it alongside his son.??The purchase of the company really has no effect on the Tap Out Training Center, I am sure somewhere down the road there will be some collaboration but for now there are no changes. I personally am very excited for the Salter family to be involved in our sport, they have proven before to be leaders in the business world and will do nothing but great for us all in the long run.
2. You’re in Denver for WEC 51 and it seems this year more than ever you have been traveling all over the world sometimes every two weeks or less to corner fighters. Who’s running pro-training classes at TapouT Training Center when you are away? And have you had any food that did not agree with you on the road?
My traveling schedule has been very demanding lately. But I truly love what I do, the people that I spend time with on the road have become very good friends and I would not trade that for anything. I am also blessed at Team Tompkins with a full support training staff. Keebo Robinson has been by my side for 2.5 years now, running training and focussing the Team’s ground skills. I truly couldn’t do this without his backing. Next in is Mike Cody who is also a Jui Jitsu Black Belt and has been involved in the sport for many years, I call Mike my MMA Expert he really has a great grasp on seeing the sport. Especially from the ground up. The Team has shown its best year of competition since he has been with us. Mike is also a guy that never stops supporting the Team, he’s a very unselfish guy. Something that is not easy to find. The wrestling portion of my program is headed up buy Boise State Wrestling stand out Johnny “Boy” Nunez. Johnny is also a fighter for the Team so it is great to have someone who is not only a great wrestler, but also understands wrestling for MMA. To round out my Team and a guy that has made my fighters famous for being some of the best conditioned athletes in the sport Robert McMullin. Robert is definately the Best in the game when it comes to Strength and Conditioning. He is doing things with my guys, that the sport has never seen. So as you can see I have a great support staff, something I have worked very hard to attain. These guys are really what makes everything work and why we are a successful Team and family.
3. Thursday night, your protégé Lightweight Chris Horodecki faces off against Ed Ratcliff at WEC 51. Right now Horodecki is 1-1 in his WEC career, In this current MMA climate, many Zuffa contracted fighters may harbor the fear of being cut in the back of their minds, how well do you think Horodecki can deal with this kind of pressure?
To be honest this is the first time the thought that Chris is 1-1 in WEC has ever crossed my mind. I have trained Chris since he was 12 years old, and have been with him for over 30 fights. Both Kickboxing and MMA. The kid is very good at winning and probably the coolest head I have ever trained. He will have no extra pressure on him in this fight. He will go out there and do his best for me and I am sure we will find a way to succeed. He is also only 23 year old, mark my words you have only seen the beginning of Chris Horodecki.
4. It’s a big night for you at WEC 51 Thursday night. You will also be in the corner of Featherweight Mark Hominick as he faces a notable opponent, Leonard Garcia. How have you prepared Hominick known for his kickboxing to beat a striker like Garcia?
I think that the Garcia and Hominick is one of the best match ups in WEC history. You have a striking match up in its purest form, brawler vs technician. For Mark in this fight, we really haven’t changed his training up much. Just really alot of fine tuning. I think where Garcia is gonna have trouble in this fight is that he has never faced a fighter that is as disciplined as Mark Hominick. This will be an awesome fight.
5. Another fighter you have trained under Team Tompkins who will be on the WEC 51 card is Featherweight George Roop who is facing “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung. How do you feel about that match-up and what does Roop need to beat Jung?
I love the George Roop vs Korean Zombie match up. I have said this before, but I really think when it comes down to Roop is one of the toughest guys in this division. I also fell that Jung is over-rated. The Garcia fight that Jung became instantly famous for, to me looked like two guys swinging purses at each-other. Don’t get me wrong, I respect both fighters and it was an exciting match. But the technical level of that fight was non-existant. Roop I believe will give Jung a true test.
6. Next month your brother-in-law Sam Stout faces Paul Taylor at UFC 121 in Anaheim, CA. It will be almost a year since Taylor’s last UFC fight which ended in a decision loss to John Hathaway. He is also dropping down from the 170lb division to fight in the 155lb division against Stout. Both fighters are aggressive standing, but with Taylor’s possible ring rust and his first time fighting in the Lightweight division, what, if any concerns do you have with this match-up?
The Paul Tayler and Sam Stout match up is another fight of the night possibilty for us. Paul is a great striker, with an exceptional reach and is willing to bang. I think it is a good match up for us and we know he will come to fight us. Where the difference in this fight is I believe is Sam’s ability to use true mixed martial arts. I think this will be an exciting and skillfull test.
7. Paul Taylor was unable to achieve his weight cut to 155lbs when he was suppose to face another one of your fighters, John Gunderson at UFC 112. How much did it piss you off that you traveled all the way to Dubai for that fight to be cancelled and would you be less pissed off if he didn’t make weight in Anaheim, California, which is only about an hour flight away?
To be honest the whole Abu Dhabi trip was a bit taxing and very expensive for us. But the country truly is beautiful and is a place I think everyone should see at least once. As for Paul not making weight, he actually did. Where the problem came in was that the night after weigh ins he suffered from sever migraines and was medically forced from the fight. We have absolutely no ill feeling towards Paul, these are things that happen and were out of his control. He is a proven tough guy and would have fought us if he could. I just hope that he has things figured out now and that the weight cut is a healthier result.
8. How do you feel that Vitor Belfort is getting his chance at the UFC Middleweight Championship belt because of Chael Sonnen being forced out of a second go around with Anderson Silva due to his year suspension for popping positive to high levels of testosterone?
I have had a very exciting week, hearing that we will be getting our title match up between Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva. I do however hope that things work themselves out with Chael, he is a very intelligent guy and I can’t help but think that there is something else involved that we dont know about yet. As for us, this couldn’t be better. We fight for the title and it sounds like at home in Las Vegas. Nothing against germany, but sleeping in my own bed before the biggest fight in history is a good thing.
9. If Chael Sonnen (allegedly) used PEDs in his fight at UFC 119 against Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and worked as hard as he did for almost five rounds and still could not beat Silva, how is Vitor Belfort going to beat him?
We have been studying Anderson for over a year now, we have had our gameplan in place and to be honest everytime Silva fights he proves to us that we are on the right path. He is however the P4P best in the world and we will not forget this. But I can promise you this, I will bring the Best Vitor Belfort you have ever seen into that cage come fight night.
10. If you could travel for fun and not for work, where would you go?
There are a few places I have really enjoyed in my travels. I love the relaxed college atmosphere and beer in Boston, San Diego is heavenly and I have always loved Miami Beach, Florida definately one of the coolest places in the world. Gotta tell you though living in Las Vegas is a dream come true for this small town Canadian boy…..
Submissions can provoke a number of reactions. For those, especially of understanding of the intricacies of the back-and-forth battle of grips, reactions and setups, the finish can be a beautiful thing. Other times, the objective of trapping your opponent in a potentially bone-crunching position is cringe-inducing. With that in mind, we decided to split our midseason submission award into three categories.
What a weekend. Two Zuffa events in two days, and sandwiched in between two Strikeforce cards on Showtime. It’s almost enough to make even the most hardcore fan take a night off to watch some “Top Chef” and wait for the testosterone levels to drop back to normal. Almost.