Multiple sources have confirmed that well-regarded MMA coach Shawn Tompkins has passed away at the age of 37. He was found dead Sunday morning in Canada, where he was traveling with members of his Team Tompkins stable. As UFC vet John Gunderson put it, Tompkins “didn’t wake up.” No other details on Tompkins’s death are immediately available.
Tompkins’s wife Emilie — the sister of UFC lightweight Sam Stout — released a statement last night from their home in Las Vegas:
“Team Tompkins thanks everyone for all of the condolences that have come in since the tragic news of ‘The Coach’s’ death. Shawn would be touched beyond words by the outpouring of love from the MMA community. Sam Stout, Chris Horodecki, Mark Hominick, Kekoa Quipolta, Mr. and Mrs. Tompkins and I thank you for the respect you have shown us during this trying time. Shawn loved MMA and he considered all of you family. We will miss our Coach very much.”
Multiple sources have confirmed that well-regarded MMA coach Shawn Tompkins has passed away at the age of 37. He was found dead Sunday morning in Canada, where he was traveling with members of his Team Tompkins stable. As UFC vet John Gunderson put it, Tompkins “didn’t wake up.” No other details on Tompkins’s death are immediately available.
Tompkins’s wife Emilie — the sister of UFC lightweight Sam Stout — released a statement last night from their home in Las Vegas:
“Team Tompkins thanks everyone for all of the condolences that have come in since the tragic news of ‘The Coach’s’ death. Shawn would be touched beyond words by the outpouring of love from the MMA community. Sam Stout, Chris Horodecki, Mark Hominick, Kekoa Quipolta, Mr. and Mrs. Tompkins and I thank you for the respect you have shown us during this trying time. Shawn loved MMA and he considered all of you family. We will miss our Coach very much.”
Though his own MMA career was less than successful, Tompkins found his calling as a trainer, and helped launch the careers of Canadian MMA stars like Mark Hominick, Sam Stout, and Chris Horodecki. In 2007, the Ontario native began to gain broader recognition as the coach of the IFL’s Los Angeles Anacondas team, which led to a coaching residency at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Tompkins left XC in 2009 and moved to the TapouT Training Center, where he coached until his death.
A lot of would-be mixed martial artists have walked through the doors at Adrenaline Training Center, in London, Ont. Most of them have dreams of becoming professional fighters. Alex ‘Pecker’ Gasson, who is the manager and one of the instruc…
A lot of would-be mixed martial artists have walked through the doors at Adrenaline Training Center, in London, Ont.
Most of them have dreams of becoming professional fighters. Alex ‘Pecker’ Gasson, who is the manager and one of the instructors at ATC, remembers one in particular.
“This guy packed up his family and moved here from New Brunswick,” Gasson said. “He wanted to be a fighter. He never came back after the first day of training.”
The realities of what it takes to become a pro fighter are a shock for many people. Dreams of fame and glory may bring people to ATC, said Gasson, 33, but without dedication and sacrifice, those dreams can fade quickly.
“People don’t talk about the sacrifice, because it’s not glamorous,” said ‘Pecker’. “But training isn’t easy, and I don’t sugarcoat it for anyone. If they can’t handle the training, they can’t handle the ring.”
In the world of professional fighting, the real story is what goes on behind the scenes, outside of the spotlights and away from the screaming fans, said Gasson. Meeting the demands of a fighter’s life and maintaining commitments to family and friends can be difficult.
“Be prepared to sacrifice a lot,” Gasson said.
Adrenaline Training Center instructor Adam Higson knows about making sacrifices. A former amateur boxing champ and seven time kickboxing and Muaythai champ, Higgson, 35, has been training for over 20 years.
“Fighting cost me my marriage,” said Higson, before a workout with ATC strength and conditioning coach Brain Fletcher. “We see who our friends are when we’re not in the spotlight, when we’re training or dealing with a loss.”
This is why there is a strong sense of community in mixed martial arts, Gasson said. Fighters need a strong support network to help them survive the physical and emotional challenges that come with training and competing at the professional level.
Fighters must structure their lives around training. It is not uncommon for fighters to train six days a week, four to five hours a day, leaving little time or energy for anything else.
Days are typically divided into morning and afternoon sessions, training either striking, wrestling or jiu jitsu in one session, and strength and condition in the other. Mixed martial arts requires power and endurance, and so work outs are often based on circuit training that works the muscles and body to exhaustion, said Gasson.
This might include one minute sets of flipping a 350 pound tire, followed chin-ups, tossing around a medicine ball and ending off with rope exercises. And then repeat.
“Train as much as you can, and then double it,” said Gasson. “Remember, while you’re taking a break, what’s your opponent doing?”
The core group of people behind ATC has been together for more than a decade and they know what it takes to make it in the world of professional MMA.
Mark ‘The Machine’ Hominick, Sam ‘Hands of Stone’ Stout and Chris ‘The Polish Hammer’ Horodecki have all competed at the highest levels of the sport.
Stout, 27, recently competed at UFC 131, in Vancouver, B.C., on June 11. Stout defeated Yves Edwards with a first round knockout, earning himself a $70,000 ‘Knockout of the Night’ bonus. It was the sixth fight-night bonus of Stout’s career.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts organization in the world, drawing thousands of fans to their live events, with millions of more fans tuning in to watch from around the world.
Hominick, 28, who has been fighting professionally for almost a decade, recently fought for the featherweight belt at UFC 129, at the end of April, in Toronto, Ont. The event was held at the Rogers Center in front of 55,000 fans, the biggest MMA event in North American history.
Although Hominick lost the fight, his performance earned him a Fight of the Night bonus of $129,000.
Horodecki, 23, began training when he was 13 years old and started fighting professionally just after his 18th birthday. He has fought around the world in MMA’s biggest promotions, including the UFC, the WEC and Affliction.
Gasson, who began training mixed martial arts in his late teens, is a former North American kick boxing champion and has competed in events around the world. But his days of competing are over, after breaking his neck last November. Now, Gasson sees it as his job to help the members of ATC reach their own personal goals.
Not everyone who comes to train at ATC aspires to a career in fighting, so training is tailored to the individual. As demanding as the training regime may be, sometimes the most difficult thing is building up the nerve to train at ATC.
From outside, the building is a nondescript warehouse, but inside the gym equipped for serious training. Divided into sections, one half of the gym is dedicate to training strength and cardio, and the other half is lined with wrestling mats for working on grappling and fighting techniques.
A number of heavy bags hang from the ceiling, and there is a boxing ring and an MMA cage, costing over $20,000 combined, for all out sparring, said Gasson.
Many people are intimidated when they first come to ATC, and Gasson tries to make the new students comfortable. “That’s my job, to make sure it’s a smooth transition.”
With MMA’s crossover into mainstream acceptability, it has become a popular form of exercise. Gasson estimated that 90% of ATC’s 424 clients are fitness orientated. The remaining 10% are serious about becoming professional fighters, of which 1% might actually make it.
It is not uncommon for some of the aspiring pros to work at the gym in exchange for memberships, said Gasson. Training fulltime makes holding down a job difficult, so fighters typically struggle to pay for necessities like food and shelter, meaning many cannot afford the cost of working with professional trainers.
“The gym couldn’t survive with only pros,” Gasson said. “Often those guys have nothing.”
Nothing but dreams about becoming professional fighters.
If you’re a fighter and your nickname is “Hands of Stone,” then it follows that you better have some impressive KO’s on your resume. If you don’t, well, people might start to call you out on your choice of fight handle.Tha…
If you’re a fighter and your nickname is “Hands of Stone,” then it follows that you better have some impressive KO’s on your resume. If you don’t, well, people might start to call you out on your choice of fight handle.
That was the awkward spot that London, Ontario native Sam Stout found himself in for most of his UFC career. A student of the well-known kickboxing guru Shawn Thompkins, “Hands of Stone” acquired a solid reputation as an exciting, tough fighter with good technical striking. Unfortunately, his lack of clean KO victories also earned him the stigma of being “pillow-fisted”.
I blame the nickname. Fight fans take shit s*** seriously. Just listen to how angry the crowd gets the next time Geroges St-Pierre “Rush”es through another 25 minutes title defense, or the “Dead of Mean” Keith Jardine gets called a really, really great guy (usually by the dude who just knocked him out).
Luckily for Sam, that awkwardness is a thing of the past.
This past Saturday at UFC 131, Stout notched a beautiful—and scary—knockout of respected vet Yves Edwards. Not only did the win validate his choice of fight moniker, it also erased another stigma that has plagued Stout over his UFC tenure: his perception as a “middle of the pack” contender.
Oh, I know fans will debate the imponderable rankings value of an Yves Edwards KO until the cows come home. But you can’t deny that aside from Shane Carwin’s battered mug (another tragic case of fist-to-face-idosis) andKenny Florian’s Laura Flynn Boyle impersonation at Featherweight, Stout’s KO is “the story” coming off this past UFC.
It’s what fans are talking about. It’s the fight they’re rewatching on their PVR’s. It’s the gif they’re tweeting to their friends on Monday morning. Now that he’s not a “pillow-fisted gatekeeper” any more, the biggest question facing Stout is “what next?”.
Of course, I have a few thoughts on the matter. Here are the top five fights I’d like to see “Hands of Stone” take next to prove he really is a top-10 Lightweight.
Dennis Siver: C’mon now, tell me this fight would be anything but totally f****** awesome.
On the one hand, you have Stout, one of the most reliably exciting fighters in the lightweight division. He’s won “Fight of the Night” five times in his UFC career. And against him, we put a guy who could very well have just walked off the set of the latest “Universal Soldier” movie.
Siver has something of a buzz going about him currently, following his upset win over rising star George Sotiropoulos. He has a penchant for devastating people with his spinning back kick, which he throws like he’s fighting in “The Kumite” and not the UFC. His German-Russian background gives him a demeanour somewhat akin to the Terminator when he fights.
Some might doubt if Sam has the power on the feet to hang with Dennis. I think this last fight with Edwards went a long way towards answering those questions. Still, regardless of outcome, this fight would be a guaranteed fireworks display on the feet. Have those “Fight of the Night” bonus cheques written and ready to be cashed—assuming Siver beats Matt Wiman in a few weeks time, that is.
Donald Cerrone: Here’s another fight where you know—you just know—that neither guy is going to be sitting back.
“The Cowboy” has complained recently of a lack of top fighters willing to step up to the plate and throw down with him. Or a perceived lack of fighters willing to step up. Or what could possibly be construed as a perceived lack of fighters willing to step. Or maybe someone just looked at him the wrong way backstage.
Either way, Donald Cerrone is proud, pissed off, and dropping sexist and homophobic slurs like he’s “that Uncle” after too many visits to the punch bowl on New Years.
If he’s looking for a game opponent, he need look no further then Stout. Since Cerrone himself has a reputation for being “pillow-fisted”, this fight would be a good chance to erase that stigma against a fighter with an iron chin. Plus, both these guys have legit kickboxing credentials, so the stand up battle should be a heck of a lot of fun.
Anthony Pettis: Speaking of legit kickboxing creds, one need look no further in the LW division then Anthony Pettis.
Ok ok, so the guy’s no K-1 Grand Prix champion or anything. But can you really speak of the inventor of the “Showtime Kick”—as well as a dozen other funky moves he regularly debuts on opponents—without a little reverence?
I think over the course of his WEC/UFC run, Pettis has proven he is one of the better strikers in the lightweight division. Throw in his ever improving BJJ game and tendency to make fights really damn fun (see a theme emerging here?) and I see an interesting stylistic challenge—and a hell of a fight —for Sam Stout.
George Sotiropoulos: Assuming the UFC brass believes Dennis Siver to be too steep a challenge for Stout, they could always give him the man he just beat.
Up until that loss, “G-Sot” was considered 155′s hottest rising star. A BJJ prodigy under noted instructor/Gumby-meets-Towlie offspring Eddie Bravo, Sot seemed to be on the fast track to a LW title shot.
That is, until he ran smack dab into the angry left foot of Dennis Siver. Then he ran into it again. And again. 15 minutes later, and his title shot was vaporized faster then a puddle in the Australian Outback/Joe Rogan’s medicinal grade bud bud on 4/20.
This would be less of an “action” fight for Stout, as George would clearly look to take this fight to the ground rather then stand and trade. Still, Stout has “ever-improving” wrestling (thanks, Goldie!), especially take down defense. The last time he fought a guy who tried to take him down, we got the epic war that was Stout vs. Lauzon.
Spencer Fischer: Here’s my personal pick, folks. All of the above fighters would make for a damn good fight.
Only Spencer Fischer would guarantee a classic for the ages.
These men first met in Stout’s Octagon début, with Sam taking the win over late-replacement Fischer after an epic three-round battle. When they met again, a more well prepared Fischer edged Stout in another epic three-round battle.
So let me do some quick math here. Two fighters in their primes, having met twice before in two of the most exciting lightweight fights of all time, with the score tied at 1-1. Matchmaking doesn’t get any more obvious then this, ladies and gentlemen.
The UFC needs to finish this trilogy. For Spencer, for Sam, for the fans, for everyone. Epic trilogies where both men are tied one apiece in two seriously epic fights DO NOT go uncompleted. Not in any MMA universe I care to inhabit.
The UFC should book Sam vs. Spencer 3, put it on a free card, and give a fitting conclusion to one of the best trilogies in the history of the LW division.
Now that we’re halfway through a six-week stretch featuring a UFC or Strikeforce event every weekend, it might be time to take a deep breath, drag out a semi-retired recurring feature, and assign some totally meaningless scores to some of the notable trends and fighters we’ve seen lately. Who’s up, who’s down, and by how much? Well…
The UFC heavyweight division+113
Some have already labeled Shane Carwin’s loss at UFC 131 the “end of an era” for gargantuan heavyweights. (Didn’t last long, did it?) At the top of the division, we’re left with two guys who are smaller, faster, and better-conditioned than their predecessors; Velasquez vs. Dos Santos could be an all-time classic. Meanwhile, prospects like Travis Browne and Dave Herman continue to add depth at 265.
Cageside monitors-98
Nope, the judging in this sport still sucks, and the problem doesn’t appear to be technological. When you have shit for brains, every angle is a bad angle.
Now that we’re halfway through a six-week stretch featuring a UFC or Strikeforce event every weekend, it might be time to take a deep breath, drag out a semi-retired recurring feature, and assign some totally meaningless scores to some of the notable trends and fighters we’ve seen lately. Who’s up, who’s down, and by how much? Well…
The UFC heavyweight division+113
Some have already labeled Shane Carwin’s loss at UFC 131 the “end of an era” for gargantuan heavyweights. (Didn’t last long, did it?) At the top of the division, we’re left with two guys who are smaller, faster, and better-conditioned than their predecessors; Velasquez vs. Dos Santos could be an all-time classic. Meanwhile, prospects like Travis Browne and Dave Herman continue to add depth at 265.
Cageside monitors-98
Nope, the judging in this sport still sucks, and the problem doesn’t appear to be technological. When you have shit for brains, every angle is a bad angle.
Demian Maia-184
Ugh. Bro, nobody wants to see you kickbox your way to another decision. Submitting people used to be Demian’s gimmick — and it was a great one. But he hasn’t been able to do that since UFC events were still numbered in the double-digits. Maia is officially a stepping stone in the middleweight division, and it’s a shame to see it.
Sam Stout+250
Meanwhile, Hands of Stone scored the first stoppage victory of his five-year, 11-fight UFC career at “Dos Santos vs. Carwin,” snapped a seven-fight decision streak in the process, and gobbled up his sixth performance bonus, like a boss.
Meaningless rumors-322
That’s the last time you fool us, Internet. THE LAST TIME.
Michihiro Omigawa-62
Yeah, he got his win bonus, but officially he’s 0-4 in the Octagon now. You know who else went 0-4 in the Octagon? Tiki Ghosn. You’re in good company, Michi.
The Ultimate Fighter+138
Season 13 might have been a drag, but with the booking of Bisping vs. Mayhem in the coaching slots and the debut of bantamweights and featherweights on the show, we’ll actually have a reason to watch this thing again.
Trying to win a fight off your back-241
Miguel Torres couldn’t do it against Demetrious Johnson, and Anthony Pettis couldn’t do it against Clay Guida. Top-game rules in this sport. Resistance is futile.
Joe Rogan+300/-300
…depending on your feelings about the word “cunty.”
Quinton Jackson+276
Beats up Matt Hamill, earns a title shot, and mock-motorboats Karyn Bryant without getting pepper-sprayed. Alpha.
Brian Stann+437
An American hero who’s now a legit threat at middleweight. Stann TKO’d former Top-10 fighter Jorge Santiago on Memorial Day, picking up his second Fight of the Night bonus in his last three fights.
Guys who get ranked in the Top 10 by dominating local talent in Japan, then get squashed the first time they fight in (or return to) the Octagon-602
See above.
There’s nothing like winning in impressive fashion in front of your fellow countrymen. Vancouver may be miles away from London, Ontario on the other side of Canada, but that didn’t stop 27-year-old Canadian lightweight Sam Stout from valida…
There’s nothing like winning in impressive fashion in front of your fellow countrymen. Vancouver may be miles away from London, Ontario on the other side of Canada, but that didn’t stop 27-year-old Canadian lightweight Sam Stout from validating his nickname “Hands of Stone” after dropping a vicious overhand left hook square on Yves Edward’s chin.
The fight was over in an instant; Stout’s punch landed hard and Edwards entered the realm of unconsciousness, falling back with no effort and smacking his head hard on the mat. By far, that knockout was immediately thrown on the “Top 10 Knockout” list on about 20 different sites around the Internet—and well-deserving.
Once the excitement wore off, seeing Edwards still crumpled, slightly shaking in the same position he fell in, was nothing to cheer about. A vicious knockout always produces a dichotomy of reactions: an absolute appreciation that a trained athlete has enough skill and might to pull off such a result and instant concern for the guy lying on the ground.
Regardless if fans experienced either of those emotions, pundits became fixated with where such a brutal knockout victory put Stout on the lightweight totem pole. The UFC’s 155-pound division is not for the lighthearted, leaving very little room for error due to its deep talent pool.
Now that Stout has made a splash at UFC 131, will matchmaker Joe Silva reward the young Canadian a chance to elevate his career by facing the next level of competition?
He certainly deserves the shot after holding his own in the octagon for 11 matches, garnering five “Fight of the Night” honors and defeating notable guys like Spencer Fisher, Matt Wiman, Joe Lauzon and Paul Taylor.
Needless to say, Stout’s experience at this level, at his age, is an advantage that rarely goes equally matched.
After debuting in the UFC at the age of 22, his five-year ride has produced a seesaw of results, a rough lesson in how to deal with the highs and lows of competing in a sport filled with hungry, talented fighters willing to do whatever it takes to become a permanent fixture on the grandest roster in the game.
As it stands today, Stout has barely stayed afloat in the win column, tallying up nearly as many losses as he has wins. The tides have changed though. Two days after blasting a crafty veteran like Edwards into an out-of-body experience, the lightweight standings got juggled and have shifted in Stout’s favor.
It was exactly what he needed to built enough momentum to snap out of his predictable win-loss cycle, a chance to prove he belongs at the next level.
The prefect test for his next fight would be fellow striker Donald Cerrone, who consequentially clocked in at UFC 131 for a win as well. Timing should not be an issue and both guys have the chins and stand up skills to produce a “Fight of the Night” performance.
Plus, each guy’s sails are being backed by the same large gust of momentum. Somebody is bound to get derailed if they collide, which would created that exciting sense of importance leading up to a potential fight.
“The Cowboy” Cerrone put on a leg kick clinic against his opponent Vagner Rocha at UFC 131, the fourth consecutive victim after Jamie Varner, Chris Horodecki and Paul Kelly. While Cerrone has the physical tools to be a constant threat at the top of the table, his mental strength wanes from time to time.
Despite being on a solid win-streak, he has the tendency to be unjustly hard on his performances, stating a common complaint of not pulling the trigger enough on his feet, as if he has something to prove to himself. A win against Stout would help Cerrone clear his mind, enhance his confidence and help him discover his rightful place in the UFC’s lightweight division.
Even though Cerrone will eventually have to overcome a strong wrestler in the UFC and Stout will have to prove he has enough consistency to remain at the top, this would be a very intriguing fight loaded with fireworks that could be a platform jump into those future challenges for the winner.
For each competitor, this would be their respective fight to win or lose, a step towards top-five competition or a step back into the middle of the pack.
It’s a good fight for both guys and a fun fight for the fans…what could go wrong? Dana White and Joe Silva not reading this article and injury, to think of a few things….
Despite the fact that three fighters made their UFC debuts on the main card of UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin, there were still a lot of important fights. A few fighters really raise their stock through impressive performances, while others disappointe…
Despite the fact that three fighters made their UFC debuts on the main card of UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin, there were still a lot of important fights. A few fighters really raise their stock through impressive performances, while others disappointed.
While this doesn’t necessarily reflect just who won or who lost, some victories are resulting in title shots while some losses are a cause for concern.
Whether it was an unexpected finish or a display of heart, let’s see who really won and lost at UFC 131.
