Sport category: Fighters Cool Hand Hominick Unrattled by His Impending UFC Debut
Date: 20-02-2006 23:19
The idea of actually fighting in the UFC has knocked out more fighters than a well-timed left hook to the jaw, but it may be safe to say that 23-year-old Mark Hominick won’t get taken down by the jitters before his UFC 58 match against Yves Edwards on March 4th because he’s been through an apparently more stressful situation during his mixed martial arts career; namely, his 2002 debut against Richard Nancoo.
Ironically though, it wasn’t stressful for Hominick, who describes his debut as “amazing.” And the result, a third round TKO of the Toronto veteran, was an impressive one, but Nancoo wasn’t just any opponent - he was an idol of Hominick since the budding pro was a teenager.
“Richard was one of the guys that kinda got me into mixed martial arts,” Hominick remembered. “We were competing on a local and regional level when I was 14, 15 years old, and he was the big dog. I idolized him, his style, and he was beating everybody, but he gave me the time of day. He set out time after tournaments to talk and I really respected that.”
So not only was Hominick making his professional debut at UCC 10 in Quebec, he’s doing it against a hero who was actually nice to him as he made his way to that point in his career. Welcome to mixed martial arts, kid.
Hominick’s poker face wouldn’t waver though.
“I’m a competitor, and I wanted to prove that I was at that level and that I’ve earned my chance to showcase that,” he said.
He proved his point that night, and in the ensuing three and a half years, ‘The Machine’ has made his name north of the border as one of the sport’s rising stars – a tireless competitor who has had his ups and downs due to some bad breaks, but who has emerged unscathed and ready for the next level.
That next level is epitomized by Edwards, who is not only one of the sport’s best, pound for pound, but he is also a natural 155-pounder. Hominick is coming up from the 145-pound weight class, but he sees this development as a help, not a hindrance.
“It’s a big help that I don’t have to cut as much weight, and I have been focusing on getting bigger for the fight - which is good - and I’m at a comfortable weight right now,” he said. “But again, I feel like I’m gonna have a lot more speed in the fight, which I’m gonna try and show – a lot of movement, a lot of conditioning, and I’m really gonna push the action on him.”
It’s a nice fight plan, for Hominick and the fans, but like Mike Tyson once famously said, ‘Everyone’s got a plan until they get hit,’ and Edwards can crack. Again, Hominick is unconcerned, mainly because when you’ve gotten hit in training by guys like Sam Stout and Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig, you’re used to surviving sledgehammers slamming into your chin.
“Sparring with those guys day in and day out, and just getting hit with that power, I’ve learned how to deal with it, and how to use my strengths against that. I’ve trained myself so I know how to fight against a stronger guy or a guy who hits hard.”
He’s also ready for the long haul, and despite his fast-paced style, he’s got the gas to go the distance if he has to. Yes folks, this is what we’ve been missing with the absence of the lightweight division, and Hominick trains accordingly – go hard or go home.
“You’ve got to completely dedicate yourself to the fight and dedicate yourself to training,” he said, revealing the secret to his above average cardio. “When I’m training for a fight, that is my focus – that’s it, that’s all I’m concerned about. I want to go into a fight knowing that no matter what the other guy’s doing, I’ve done twice as much as him and I’m way more prepared than him. If he wants to take something from me, he’s gonna have to literally knock me out or take me out of the fight.”
That’s the credo Hominick has lived by in his MMA career, with each of his 13 fights ending before the judges had a chance to render a verdict – either positively or negatively for the London, Ontario native.
“A lot of it goes back to my training,” he said. “A lot of times, with the pace I dictate in the fight, my opponent has a hard time dealing with that as the rounds go on, so I feel like the later I go into a fight, the more confident I’m gonna be and the harder I’m gonna push my opponent, and the faster the pace I’m going to dictate.”
Hominick is predicting fireworks in his first US appearance since 2003, and if you think he’s a little nervous about competing in a country where three of his four losses have occurred, think again.
“No excuses, but I had some bad luck,” said Hominick, who isn’t kidding. In his US debut against Stephen Palling in 2003, ‘The Machine’ was stopped on a cut in just 16 seconds, and after a submission loss to Mike Brown less than a month later, Hominick would get slammed by Tommy Lee two months after the Brown bout and bang his head on the canvas, knocking himself out 18 seconds into the bout. He’s lost once since then (to Shane Rice), a loss later avenged, and with a four fight win streak under his belt, he’s ready to give the US another try.
“A fight’s a fight,” he says. “It doesn’t matter where it’s at to me.”
So no superstitions?
“Nothing like that,” he laughs. “I just really have to prove myself now.”
It’s a warrior’s mentality that you wouldn’t expect from your average kid with a business degree in his hand, but this honors graduate from the University of Windsor has it, even if his parents aren’t exactly doing cartwheels about his chosen line of work.
“I really didn’t grow up with a family of fight fans,” he admits. “So my parents don’t enjoy it. They enjoy how I’m involved in it and they support me 100 percent, but they’re just not fight fans. So it’s hard to even try to win them over, let alone anybody else.”
So while Hominick has to deflect the queries about when he’s going to look for a ‘real’ job, he also has to deal with one of the top fighters in the world staring across the Octagon at him less than two weeks from now. That’s enough to rattle anyone.
Not Mark Hominick though.
“To tell you the truth, I think I have a lot less pressure than him because he is pretty much the uncrowned champ at 155, and I’m coming in as a natural 145-pound fighter, so I don’t feel I have as much pressure on me as him,” he said. “All I think is that we’re gonna put on an explosive fight for the fans. It’s a great matchup for the fans to watch and it will really showcase the 155ers going at it.”
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