Tag: Shawn Tompkins

Sam Stout Has an Interesting Interpretation of His UFC 154 Loss to John Makdessi


(Can’t tell if trolling…)

A lot of fighters say that once the cage door closes, they enter a state of temporary hypnosis, not unlike sleepwalking, that more or less shuts their brain down until the fight is over. Hence why they often need to be reminded what round it is, whether or not they won the last round, etc. It’s a familiar feeling — the combination of nerves, adrenaline, and the tiniest bit of fear — to anyone who has ever spoke in public or performed on a stage, and an example of how our own psyche subconsciously protects us from harm whether we want it to or not.

Clearly, this is the case for Sam Stout, who was jibber-jabbed into oblivion by John Makdessi at UFC 154. Stout’s runaway locomotive-esque strategy of “forward, forward, FORWARD” was picked apart by Makdessi with sharp combinations and simple head movement, resulting in easily some of the greatest punch faces of the night. But if you were to ask Stout how things went down, you’d probably think he fought the reincarnation of Kalib Starnes that night (Author’s note: Kalib Starnes is dead, right? I vaguely recall hearing something about a jogger accidentally running right off a cliff and just assumed the worst).

Stout shared his feelings with MMAMania:

He wasn’t fighting. He was running the whole time. I wanted to fight, I came to fight and I didn’t get the fight I wanted. 

I usually like to come out and put on an exciting fight and it takes two guys to do that, to do those kinds of fights. And you know John, he ran, he kept on moving the whole time and I was expecting him to fight me a little more.

Sour grapes much, Sam?


(Can’t tell if trolling…)

A lot of fighters say that once the cage door closes, they enter a state of temporary hypnosis, not unlike sleepwalking, that more or less shuts their brain down until the fight is over. Hence why they often need to be reminded what round it is, whether or not they won the last round, etc. It’s a familiar feeling — the combination of nerves, adrenaline, and the tiniest bit of fear — to anyone who has ever spoke in public or performed on a stage, and an example of how our own psyche subconsciously protects us from harm whether we want it to or not.

Clearly, this is the case for Sam Stout, who was jibber-jabbed into oblivion by John Makdessi at UFC 154. Stout’s runaway locomotive-esque strategy of “forward, forward, FORWARD” was picked apart by Makdessi with sharp combinations and simple head movement, resulting in easily some of the greatest punch faces of the night. But if you were to ask Stout how things went down, you’d probably think he fought the reincarnation of Kalib Starnes that night (Author’s note: Kalib Starnes is dead, right? I vaguely recall hearing something about a jogger accidentally running right off a cliff and just assumed the worst).

Stout shared his feelings with MMAMania:

He wasn’t fighting. He was running the whole time. I wanted to fight, I came to fight and I didn’t get the fight I wanted. 

I usually like to come out and put on an exciting fight and it takes two guys to do that, to do those kinds of fights. And you know John, he ran, he kept on moving the whole time and I was expecting him to fight me a little more.

Sour grapes much, Sam?

Now we’re not going to sit here and belittle a seasoned veteran like Stout, but suffice it to say, he’s sounding a little bitter. The loss to Makdessi, who was dangerously close to getting the boot from the UFC, dropped Stout to 7-7 in the UFC career and just 2-2 in his last four. Considering his current 1-2 run came after the most impressive finish in his UFC career, one can imagine that he is growing quite frustrated trying to replicate that success. He continued:

He, you know, ran and ran and ran and then timed when he wanted to land a jab and wasn’t — he didn’t really do anything that I thought was very, nothing devastating. A couple jabs in the face, nothing that really hurt me. You know, obviously I got a little lumped up, but yeah. 

It takes two to fight and make an exciting fight. I’m disappointed that it wasn’t and you know, I wanted better for the fans

Although we’re sure Sam’s feeling disappointed in the fight, we have a feeling it’s for completely different reasons. We hate to even bring this up, but ever since Shawn Tompkins’ death, the three most well known and sucessful members of his team (Stout, Hominick, Horodecki) have gone 1-6-1 with 1 NC. It really shows what kind of influence Shawn had as both a trainer and a friend, and all the more heartbreaking to see how it has affected those close to him. The numbers don’t lie.

That being said, did anyone see this fight the way Sam saw it?

–J. Jones

Barnburner Alert: Sam Stout vs. Spencer Fisher III Booked for UFC on FX 4


(Wait…it’s already been FIVE YEARS since these two last fought?!!) 

Trilogy fever has officially struck Zuffa.

Word has it that lightweight scrappers Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher will meet for a third time at UFC on FX 4 this June, in a fight that will be an early front runner for “Fight of the Night” to say the least. Both Fisher and Stout are coming off losses to Thiago Tavares, so it seems a good a time as any to have these two square off once again, because MMA fans eat up rematches like fried Kool-aid nowadays.

Fisher and Stout last met way back at UFN 10 in June of 2007, where Fisher was able to erase the memory of his split decision, “Fight of the Year” earning loss to Stout at UFC 58 by walking away with a close but unanimous decision victory. As of late, however, Fisher has descended further down the lightweight ladder with each performance, to the point that he could be fighting for his job come June 22nd. He has dropped 4 of his last 5, with the lone win coming by way of UD over UFC washout Curt “The War” Warburton at UFC 120. Yes, you read that correctly; Curt Warburton’s nickname is “The War.” What a crafty SOB.

Stout has seen quite a bit more success recently, scoring wins in 4 of his last 6, including a first round starching of Yves Edwards at UFC 131 last year. After his long time trainer and close friend Shawn Tompkins suddenly passed away, however, Stout pulled out of his bout with Dennis Siver to do some “soul searching” along with fellow Team Tompkins members Chris Horodecki and Mark Hominick. Upon returning to the octagon, the aftereffects of such a tragic loss were still noticeable, as both Stout and Hominick suffered defeats to Tavares and Chan Sung Jung, respectively.

In other fight booking news…


(Wait…it’s already been FIVE YEARS since these two last fought?!!) 

Trilogy fever has officially struck Zuffa.

Word has it that lightweight scrappers Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher will meet for a third time at UFC on FX 4 this June, in a fight that will be an early front runner for “Fight of the Night” to say the least. Both Fisher and Stout are coming off losses to Thiago Tavares, so it seems a good a time as any to have these two square off once again, because MMA fans eat up rematches like fried Kool-aid nowadays.

Fisher and Stout last met way back at UFN 10 in June of 2007, where Fisher was able to erase the memory of his split decision, “Fight of the Year” earning loss to Stout at UFC 58 by walking away with a close but unanimous decision victory. As of late, however, Fisher has descended further down the lightweight ladder with each performance, to the point that he could be fighting for his job come June 22nd. He has dropped 4 of his last 5, with the lone win coming by way of UD over UFC washout Curt “The War” Warburton at UFC 120. Yes, you read that correctly; Curt Warburton’s nickname is “The War.” What a crafty SOB.

Stout has seen quite a bit more success recently, scoring wins in 4 of his last 6, including a first round starching of Yves Edwards at UFC 131 last year. After his long time trainer and close friend Shawn Tompkins suddenly passed away, however, Stout pulled out of his bout with Dennis Siver to do some “soul searching” along with fellow Team Tompkins members Chris Horodecki and Mark Hominick. Upon returning to the octagon, the aftereffects of such a tragic loss were still noticeable, as both Stout and Hominick suffered defeats to Tavares and Chan Sung Jung, respectively.

In other fight booking news, it has been reported by Marc Bocek himself that his original UFC 145 opponent, TUF 5 alum Matt Wiman, has blown out his knee in training and has been forced to withdraw from their match. Replacing him will be none other than UFC, WEC, KOTC, and damn near every other promotion veteran John Alessio, who will be making his return to the UFC following a six year absence. In the past three years, the 35 year old journeyman has put together a hell of a run, notching eleven victories, including wins over UFC veterans Luigi Fioravanti (via KO) and War Machine (via submission), alongside just two defeats.

Canadian grappling savant Marc Bocek has gone win-loss in his last five UFC bouts, with one of those losses coming to current lightweight champ Ben Henderson and the other to top contender Jim Miller. We last saw Bocek score a unanimous decision victory over Nik Lentz at UFC 140 in which Lentz tried to submit Bocek with a guillotine no less than 375 times.

UFC 145 is set to transpire on April 21st from the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

While we’re on the subject of last minute injuries, it appears that Jorgen Kruth, who was expected to make his UFC debut against Cyrille Diabate at UFC on FUEL 2, has been forced to pull out of the contest and has been replaced by fellow newcomer Tom DeBlass. A student of Ricardo Almeida and currently undefeated as a professional, DeBlass is accepting the fight on just over a week’s notice against a dangerous, albeit struggling, striker in Diabate. “Snake” has not competed since getting strangled by Anthony Perosh at UFC 138, and currently sits at 2-2 in the UFC. Being that submissions have always been Diabate’s Achilles heel, he might want to utilize the huge reach advantage he will have against a much shorter BJJ blackbelt in DeBlass.

UFC on FUEL 2 goes down from the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden on April 14th.

Who you got for these, Potato Nation?

-J. Jones

Video: Check Out the Preview of Mark Hominick’s Fantastic Looking Upcoming Documentary ‘Fight Spirit Pride’

Add this upcoming documentary to the pile of must-see soon-to-be-released MMA movies along with “Once I was a Champion” and “Fightville.”

“Fight Spirit Pride” looks back on former UFC featherweight contender Mark Hominick’s crossover period from Canadian MMA standout to popular Octagon veteran five years ago. Though it should have been one of the most exciting and happy times of his life, it was one of the most stressful and painful for Hominick as his father was also dying from cancer.

Featuring a number of the sport’s most recognizable faces including Dana White, Eddie Bravo, Joe Rogan, Sam Stout, Georges St-Pierre, Bas Rutten and Kevin James, the emotional film also touches on the untimely death of “The Machine’s” longtime mentor, trainer and friend, Shawn Tompkins last year.

Here’s a description from the film’s producers:

“This is a Documentary film about a UFC fighter’s struggle between being there for his dying father, and his career. This documentary is a very raw uncensored microscopic look into the life of a fighter; it has two deaths and two births.”

Check out the trailer after the jump.

Add this upcoming documentary to the pile of must-see soon-to-be-released MMA movies along with “Once I was a Champion” and “Fightville.”

“Fight Spirit Pride” looks back on former UFC featherweight contender Mark Hominick’s crossover period from Canadian MMA standout to popular Octagon veteran five years ago. Though it should have been one of the most exciting and happy times of his life, it was actually one of the most stressful and painful for Hominick as his father was also dying from cancer.

Featuring a number of the sport’s most recognizable faces including Dana White, Eddie Bravo, Joe Rogan, Sam Stout, Georges St-Pierre, Bas Rutten and Kevin James, the emotional film also touches on the untimely death of “The Machine’s” longtime mentor, trainer and friend, Shawn Tompkins last year.

Here’s a description from the film’s producers:

“This is a Documentary film about a UFC fighter’s struggle between being there for his dying father, and his career. This documentary is a very raw uncensored microscopic look into the life of a fighter; it has two deaths and two births.”

Check out the trailer below.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/FIGHTSPIRITPRIDE)

Biz Buzz: Hayabusa Launches Pro Training Series Line With a Portion of Proceeds Going to the Late Shawn Tompkins’ Family

With so much focus on the bad business dealings of sponsors in mixed martial arts these days, when a story emerges about the good things that a company is doing to give back to the sport we try to give it as much play as we can.

It’s no secret that Hayabusa makes some of the best fight gear in the business thanks to years of research and testing of its products by some of MMA’s top athletes. One product line that the company was missing from its offerings was a professional line of training equipment. To fill the void, Hayabusa partnered with revered Canadian MMA coach Shawn Tompkins in late 2009 to set about designing and producing a professional grade of products made specifically for trainers. When Shawn passed away suddenly last summer prior to the product launch, the owners of the company became torn about whether or not they should forge ahead with the project without “The Coach.”

With the blessing of Tompkins widow, Emilie, who urged them to put out the products whose design had become a labor of love for her late husband the past few years, Hayabusa’s brain trust finalized the design of the products and unveiled them recently.

With so much focus on the bad business dealings of sponsors in mixed martial arts these days, when a story emerges about the good things that a company is doing to give back to the sport we try to give it as much play as we can.

It’s no secret that Hayabusa makes some of the best fight gear in the business thanks to years of research and testing of its products by some of MMA’s top athletes. One product line that the company was missing from its offerings was a professional line of training equipment. To fill the void, Hayabusa partnered with revered Canadian MMA coach Shawn Tompkins in late 2009 to set about designing and producing a professional grade of products made specifically for trainers. When Shawn passed away suddenly last summer prior to the product launch, the owners of the company became torn about whether or not they should forge ahead with the project without “The Coach.”

With the blessing of Tompkins widow, Emilie, who urged them to put out the products whose design had become a labor of love for her late husband the past few years, Hayabusa’s brain trust finalized the design of the products and unveiled them recently.

“We were devastated by Shawn’s passing, and we lost a partner, and a dear friend,” said Hayabusa co-founder Craig Clement. “We were very conflicted over how to handle the release of the line and considered possibly scrapping it altogether, but we spoke to Shawn’s wife Emilie, and she encouraged us press forward and release this line of gear designed by and now dedicated to ‘The Coach.’”

Besides the innovative design features like anti-slip microfibre inserts and proprietary manufactured hybrid foams to absorb the rigors of multiple training sessions, what truly sets the line apart is the fact that a portion of the proceeds of each and every sale of all of the products in the Hayabusa Pro Training Series line is going to go to the Tompkins family as a memorial to Shawn’s contribution to creating them.

“We offer our deepest condolences to Emilie, the Tompkins family, the members of Team Tompkins and all those in the MMA community who had the pleasure to know Shawn,” said Clement, “We are proud of the designs and we know that Shawn was as well. He worked with us on every facet of the design from prototype to the final products. We hope that the Pro Training Series line will honor his memory.”

You can purchase the affordable and ultra-durable line through select online realtors and retail locations that carry Hayabusa gear, including MMAWarehouse.com. Alternatively, you can donate to the Shawn Tompkins Memorial Fund by emailing [email protected].

Video: Stout Talks Team Tompkins’ Legacy and How They Are Rallying Behind Hominick Ahead of UFC 140

(“He’s never going to be forgotten. I think about him still every day and I don’t think that’s ever going to change.” – Sam Stout)

We caught up with consummate crowd favorite Sam Stout over the weekend at the MMA Expo in Toronto and we touched on a number of topics, including how the healing process is going for him and his Team Tompkins teammates since losing friend and mentor Shawn Tompkins. We also spoke about how the team is rallying behind Mark Hominick this weekend as “The Machine” gets set to take to the Octagon for the first time in his career without “The Coach” in his corner Saturday night when he takes on “The Korean Zombie.”

Stout is candid about the affect Tompkins’ death had on him and he reveals the team’s plans moving forward. Definitely a must-watch interview.

Check it out after the jump.

(“He’s never going to be forgotten. I think about him still every day and I don’t think that’s ever going to change.” – Sam Stout)

We caught up with consummate crowd favorite Sam Stout over the weekend at the MMA Expo in Toronto and we touched on a number of topics, including how the healing process is going for him and his Team Tompkins teammates since losing friend and mentor Shawn Tompkins. We also spoke about how the team is rallying behind Mark Hominick this weekend as “The Machine” gets set to take to the Octagon for the first time in his career without “The Coach” in his corner Saturday night when he takes on “The Korean Zombie.”

Stout is candid about the affect Tompkins’ death had on him and he reveals the team’s plans moving forward. Definitely a must-watch interview.

Check it out below.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/CagePotato)

Editor’s note: If you’re wondering why Sam’s eyes are diverted throughout the interview, it’s because a line-up of girls who wanted to talk to the affable Canadian began to form beside us as we conducted the interview. They all waited until his scheduled signing time at the Xyience booth was up to come back to chat with him and were waiting patiently at both sides of the booth.

Stout/Tavares & Barboza/Etim Booked for UFC 142 in Rio


(Don’t be fooled by its innocent exterior, the Stout will knock you out quicker than you can say “10.6 percent.”) 

A pair of lightweight contests have recently been announced for the UFC’s return to Brazil this January. Fresh off his lightning quick victory over Edward Faaloloto at UFC 138, Terry Etim will be taking a big step up in competition when he faces Brazilian phenom Edson Barboza.

Barboza has gone 3-0 in his UFC career, notching wins over TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson and WEC KO artist Anthony Njokuani. Etim, on the other hand, had rattled off four victories in his last five fights before being sidelined by a rib injury for over a year. Having fought six of his nine UFC contests on his home soil, it will be interesting to see how Etim reacts to the foreign crowd, especially one that has shown the capacity to commit bloodshed before.


(Don’t be fooled by its innocent exterior, the Stout will knock you out quicker than you can say “10.6 percent.”) 

A pair of lightweight contests have recently been announced for the UFC’s return to Brazil this January. Fresh off his lightning quick victory over Edward Faaloloto at UFC 138, Terry Etim will be taking a big step up in competition when he faces Brazilian phenom Edson Barboza.

Barboza has gone 3-0 in his UFC career, notching wins over TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson and WEC KO artist Anthony Njokuani. Etim, on the other hand, had rattled off four victories in his last five fights before being sidelined by a rib injury for over a year. Having fought six of his nine UFC contests on his home soil, it will be interesting to see how Etim reacts to the foreign crowd, especially one that has shown the capacity to commit bloodshed before.

UFC 142 will also feature the return of Canadian UFC veteran Sam Stout, who, after knocking out Yves Edwards in brutal fashion at UFC 131, reluctantly pulled out from his UFC 137 contest with Dennis Siver in the wake of trainer Shawn Tompkins’ death. Stout will be taking on fellow UFC vet Thiago Tavares, who recently rebounded from a knockout loss to Shane Roller back at UFC Live 3 with a TKO of his own over Spencer Fisher at UFC 134. Fun fact, both men have fought 11 times in the UFC, with Stout coming away 7-4  and Tavares 6-4-1.

UFC 142 is set to go down January 14th at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.