Mark Hominick Talks Death of Shawn Tompkins, UFC 140 Fight With Chan Sung Jung

UFC featherweight Mark Hominick sure has been through a lot lately. He went from the highest of highs, fighting in front of 55,000 people against Jose Aldo at UFC 129 and becoming a father, to the lowest of lows when he coach and friend Shawn Tompkins passed away less than three months later. Maggie Hendricks of Cagewriter was able to interview Hominick while they were both in Ottawa recently, and he shared his thoughts on his rollercoaster year. On the death of his mentor:

"The passing of Shawn was obviously beyond a shocker. He was the best man in my wedding. He was more than just a mentor in the sport. He became a life mentor for me. That's a huge void, but everyone on our team has stepped up. We became closer because of it, because we know we all have to step up to try to fill that void. It's our duty to carry on his legacy: to keep training, to keep winning, to keep performing in the cage."

On continuing forward with fellow Tompkins guys Chris Horodecki and Sam Stout:

"This is going on 15 years that we've all been together. We're a very tight-knit group, and that's what we're trying to stress right now. To keep that unity. Even Shawn's dad stepped up. Shawn's dad came into the gym and talked to the group, and Shawn's brothers. Just kind of letting everyone know that we're not sitting idly by. We're working for his legacy."

And on his UFC 140 bout in his hometown of Toronto, where he'll be facing the Korean Zombie, Chan Sung Jung:

"It's going to be pretty similar to the Leonard Garcia fight. Very similar, very wild. The main thing is just getting a wide variety of sparring partners. You've got to get someone who is all over the place."

Hominick will be the first core team member to take a fight since Shawn's death, and it will obviously be a very emotional night on December 10th at the Air Canada Center.