Mark Hominick Talks Death Of Shawn Tompkins, Upcoming Bout At UFC 140

Source: Yahoo! Sports

It has been a very trying year for UFC featherweight Mark Hominick. First, he lost in his bid to claim the UFC title off of Jose Aldo in his native country of Canada. Then, he lost his coach and friend Shawn Tompkins to an unexpected heart attack.

Now, as Hominick tries to move on, he is scheduled to step back inside the Octagon in his hometown of Toronto for a fight with Chan Sung Jung at UFC 140.

"The passing of Shawn was obviously beyond a shocker," said Hominick, in an interview with Yahoo! Sports recently. "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."

Hominick is part of a team that includes Tompkins-trained fighters Chris Horodecki and Sam Stout. Tompkins was training with Horodecki when he passed, and Stout married Tompkins' sister.

"That's a huge void, but everyone on our team has stepped up," Hominick said. "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."

In Jung (11-3), Hominick (20-9) will be facing an opponent that is just 1-2 in his last three fights, but won his last bout by submission over Leonard Garcia with a twister.

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

UFC 140 takes place December 10 from the Air Canada Centre. Along with Hominick-Jung, Frank Mir will meet Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Tito Ortiz will take on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in featured bouts.

Dana Becker is a staff writer for FightLine.com. He can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DanaBecker.