Shawn Tompkins, 1974-2011

Shawn Tompkins, one of the best MMA trainers in the world, passed away on Sunday at the age of 37. Tompkins was a team trainer at TapouT Research and Development Training Center in Las Vegas, and was a former coach for the IFL's Los Angeles Anacondas and head instructor at Xtreme Couture. During his career he trained big MMA names including Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort, and despite his move to the U.S. in 2007, remained one of the major figures of Canadian MMA, coaching Canuck UFC stars Mark Hominick and Sam Stout and Bellator's Chris Horodecki. As an MMA fan, I'll always remember the remarkable way Tompkins coached fighters between rounds, especially during Hominick's recent epic championship battle with Jose Aldo at UFC 129 in Toronto. He was calm, encouraging and clear, and knew just how to connect with his fighter, pushing him to a career defining performance. He always seemed to be in the fight with his athletes. As Hominick says in this pre-UFC 129 documentary: "Shawn and I are treating this as our title fight."