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Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

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Shawn Tompkins on what the rules of engagement are in 2011 for MMA training camps

By Zach Arnold | March 29, 2011

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STEVE COFIELD: “The other issue to talk about is brotherhood and I also think, with that, is the size of your team. Can you over-do it by having 15 elite fighters in your camp, in the same weight classes? Greg (Jackson) has dealt with this before because he had the whole Diego (Sanchez)/GSP thing years ago.”

SHAWN TOMPKINS: “A big part of my team is the family atmosphere, you know, my guys they eat together, they go out together, they train together, you know, I like that part of it. I will never get rid of that. But it’s how you deal with the situation and I basically lay it out when they get here (the Tapout Training Center). They know, if they become part of the team, these kinds of situations are going to happen and decisions are going to have to be made. We make them as a team but ultimately I’m the coach.”

STEVE COFIELD: “Probably a bad thing to promise that guys are never going to fight. That’s where you paint yourself into a corner.”

SHAWN TOMPKINS: “That’s exactly it. You know, you can’t. You got to treat it like it is. You know, the family side of it, the brotherhood can be on within this cage, within this house. But when it goes out into the business of the UFC or any other organization, you work for them.”

STEVE COFIELD: “We mentioned Vitor Belfort, you’ve worked with him in the past. I guessing you’re not working with him moving forward, right?”

SHAWN TOMPKINS: “Never.”

STEVE COFIELD: “You said never.”

SHAWN TOMPKINS: “Never. Never again.”

STEVE COFIELD: “Why not?”

SHAWN TOMPKINS: “I’m not really interested in working with guys that aren’t solely with me and that are guys that aren’t with me from the bottom-up. My new goal and my new thought on my team and a lot has to do with Vitor is I want to train guys and bring up the new Vitor Belforts. I want to bring up the next Randy Coutures. You know, I worked with Dan Henderson for three fights, I was there and helped him train when he knocked out Wanderlei Silva. You know, I went from there, I worked with Wanderlei Silva when he knocked out Keith Jardine. I helped Randy Couture when he beat (Gabriel) Gonzaga, you know I helped Vitor Belfort get three of the most devastating knockouts of his career. Has it really done that much for me? You know? It’s brought me along in the sport in the eyes of the fans, but really where my bread-and-butter is and where my love for the sport is are the guys at the baseline, the bottom, from the bottom to the top. Look at where I am right now with Sam Stout, Mark Hominick, Chris Horodecki. Look at where I am with Mark Hominick. That’s where the love for this sport for me is.”

And now for something totally random and great

The MMA Gourmet. Note: The highlight of this clip is what Kevin Randleman has to say about the way he will be judged.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

7 Responses to “Shawn Tompkins on what the rules of engagement are in 2011 for MMA training camps”

  1. Steve says:

    Tompkins is a good striking coach, but hasn’t shown the same ability as a head coach. IMO.

  2. CapnHulk says:

    Are there any other MMA/Fight Related shows on the internet that you know of? The one linked looks pretty interesting.

  3. […] Vitor Belfort last year, also confirmed that he will “never” work with Belfort again. Fight Opinion has the transcript if you can’t watch the video. Read more about: Shawn Tompkins,UFC,Vitor […]

  4. klown says:

    Near the end of the Chef video, BJM says the rules for the first UFC included “no groin shots”. Weird, because there were certainly groin shots allowed in the first several UFCs.

    • Steve4192 says:

      Groin shots fell in and out of favor during the early UFCs. They were illegal at UFC 1, were later made legal when the TMA guys claimed that outlawing groin shots put them at a competitive disadvantage, and then were outlawed again.

      • Zack says:

        Correct…Groin strikes were actually illegal in UFC 1 then made legal in UFC 2. It wasn’t until UFC was in the mid-teens that they were made illegal again…although they should’ve been after Hackney vs Jo Son.

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