A decade following the death of their coach and mentor, the legacy of Team Tompkins is living on through his former students.
Former professional fighters Sam Stout, Mark Hominick, and Chris Horodecki were just teenagers when Shawn Tompkins took them under his wing, helping the three reach the highest levels of mixed martial arts.
As the trio moved on from their fighting careers they put all of their focus on Adrenaline MMA, a mixed martial arts gym they owned in London, Ont.
Hominick says they felt like they had a responsibility to their former coach.
“We are built on all the things he taught us, and we owe it to him to carry on the tradition and legacy that he instilled in us, carry on his name and his tradition,” said Hominick, a veteran of 32 professional fights, seven of which were in the UFC.
“He really brought us up as kids, and now it’s our turn to do that for the next generation.”
Stout fought under the UFC banner on 20 occasions — most of which with “The Coach” in his corner — says the things he taught them went far beyond the octagon.
“We take a lot of pride in the fact that we’re passing on the stuff Shawn taught us, and that’s not just martial arts, but life lessons, and character-building stuff.”
Tompkins passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack in August of 2011. Stout and Hominick were both fighting in the UFC at the time, while Horodecki was climbing the ranks in Bellator.
Horodecki says Tompkins was the kind of person who would give you the shirt off his back.
“We were really blessed to have him, just everything he taught us, we’re just trying to continue his legacy,” he said.
“For how tough of a person he was, and for how strong of a person he was — he had a tremendous heart — I think that is really what he will be remembered for.”
Tompkins had coached some of the biggest names in the sport, working with fighters like Randy Couture, Vitor Belfort, Gray Maynard and Dan Henderson.
When Stout and Hominick got their call to the UFC, his reputation as one of the top striking coaches only grew. Team Tompkins was also well known for their toughness, which made Stout and Hominick fan favourites in the UFC.
“He led by example, you didn’t want to let him down because of the sacrifices he made for you. He gave us all these opportunities because of his work ethic, and the sacrifices he made for us,” said Hominick, who was born and raised in Thamesford, Ont.
“It’s almost a responsibility to carry on that legacy and tradition.”
Although they didn’t fully realize it at the time, Stout says many of the things that Tompkins was teaching them have benefitted long after their days in the cage. And that’s not just the case for the people they train at the gym.
“There’s definitely some life lessons I learned from Shawn that I’m already passing on to my kids,” Stout chuckled. “And they’re going to keep getting them as they get older too.”
The three took ownership of Team Tompkins and Adrenaline MMA in 2008, which at that point was used as a place for professional fighters to train.
Horodecki says it had since grown into a more family-friendly gym, with people of various ages and skill levels.
“From a gym that was built strictly to have a place to train, then to a better facility, and now into the best facility we’ve been in,” said Horodecki. “We’ve put so much time, energy, money, and ourselves into this facility, to create a place we’re really proud of.”
The gym does still see its fair share of high-level athletes, current UFC fighters Malcolm Gordon and Jesse Ronson frequent the facility, and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Kurtis Gabriel has been known to come by for a training session.
“We do have guys competing, you’ll see a guy training for a fight in the UFC, and then we also have kids programs for kids as young as six,” said Hominick, on the wide variety of faces to walk through the doors at Adrenaline.
When Tompkins passed away, the three were still in the thick of their fighting careers. Then all of a sudden the man who had been in their corner from the very beginning, was gone.
Stout says that’s when they relied on each other more than ever.
“It was a very tough time in our lives, there was never a fight after that where Mark, Chris or myself, were fighting without at least one of us in the corner, so we had that familiarity, we knew we had a brother standing beside us, to help give us that confidence.”
Although Stout says that was the case more often than not, even when Tompkins was alive. They were always around each other, supporting one another, which he says was likely by design.
“I don’t know if this was part of his plan, I’m sure it was because he always had a master plan, almost every time one of us would fight, one of us would be in the corner, so maybe that was all part of his plan,” said Stout.
Through ups and downs in their personal and professional lives, from early kickboxing fights in their teens, to world championship fights — the three have stuck together.
“What kind of team, or group of individuals have been together for more than 20 years, on the same team, same crew, same environment? That’s one thing we really pride ourselves in, is the loyalty we have in each other and the people around us,” Hominick said.
He recalls preparing for what was the biggest moment of his career, a fight against Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. At that point, it was the largest venue for a UFC fight with more than 55,000 people in attendance.
Despite being his 29th professional fight, it was just first time he would be doing so in his home province, just hours from his hometown.
Hominick was also experiencing one of the biggest moments of his personal life, as he and his wife were expecting a child around the same time of the fight.
Without batting an eye, Tompkins moved the entire fight camp from Las Vegas to London, bringing a handful of top fighters along with him to help Hominick prepare.
“He knew the environment I needed to be in was here, so he sacrificed his life down in Vegas for me,” he said.
“That just shows the type of person he was, the commitment he had to me, and the love he had for me and my family.”
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