TORONTO — Nearly eight months after Mark Hominick went five rounds with UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, the Canadian didn’t last eight seconds against Chan Sung Jung.
In front of his home province fans, the former No. 1 contender from Thamesford, Ont., was knocked out by The Korean Zombie in seven seconds, tying the record for fastest knockout in UFC history, in the opening bout of the main card of UFC 140 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
It was the first fight for Hominick since the death of longtime trainer and mentor Shawn Tompkins, who died suddenly of a heart attack in August.
After dodging a quick swinging left from Hominick right after the fighters touched gloves, Jung countered with a straight right almost that sent Hominick to the mat, and followed it with half a dozen punches on the ground that momentarily knocked Hominick out cold before referee Herb Dean waved off the fight.
“I came out too wild, hoping to catch him,” Hominick said. “I fought out of character. I don’t think anyone’s seen me come out with a big wild left hook leading the fight. I fought not as composed as I normally am. I just came out too aggressive.
“I wanted to come out and make a statement because there were a lot of questions coming into this fight with the passing of Shawn … I did want to come out aggressively, but again that’s just out of character and that’s what happens as a fighter if you fight out of character.”
Jung, who has a reputation as a wild fighter, celebrated by jumping atop the side of the cage. The heavy underdog later apologized to the Canadian fans for beating the hometown favourite.
“It was a fight I was supposed to lose, so I feel bad that I won here in Canada,” Jung said at the post-fight press conference. “I feel bad for the Canadian fans.”
Hominick’s showing was in stark contrast to his first fight in Toronto. The proud Ontarian put on an inspirational performance in his last appearance in the cage at UFC 129 on April 30 at the Rogers Centre, the organization’s first show in Ontario and first stadium event. He survived four rounds against Aldo, considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, before coming on strong in the final frame, dominating the champion from top position on the ground and nearly getting a stoppage while the home crowd was going nuts.
Tompkins’ brother Fred was in Hominick’s corner on Saturday. After the fight, Hominick got choked up when asked by a reporter about that decision.
“(We had him there) for sentimental value, for myself and the Tompkins family,” Hominick said, then paused for a few seconds to hold back tears. “Any time someone passes, it’s tough to have closure.”
The record for fastest knockout was first set by Todd Duffee when he he knocked out Edmonton’s Tim Hague at UFC 102 in August 2009. Ironically, the “unofficial” record for fastest knockout also came at the expense of a Canadian. Duane Ludwig knocked out Quebec’s Jonathan Goulet at a UFC Fight Night in January 2006 in what most who’ve watched it agree was four seconds, only the timekeeper didn’t stop the clock right away, and it went in the official books as 11 seconds.
UFC president Dana White said that losing that quickly shouldn’t reflect badly on the emotional Hominick.
“This is fighting, anything can happen,” White said. “Mark went in there going after him and got caught. You can never hold that against a guy.”
NOTES: Canadian welterweight Rory MacDonald officially announced during the UFC 140 preview show on Sportsnet that the UFC is returning to Montreal on March 24. The B.C. native, who was originally supposed to face Brian Ebersole Saturday before he was injured, will take on Che Mills on the new card at the Bell Centre in the organization’s return to Montreal since UFC 124 in December 2010 … White announced the UFC will finally introduce the flyweight division at an event on March 3. Ian McCall will face Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez will take on Yasuhiro Urushitani, with the winners to fight for the UFC’s first 125-pound championship at a later date.
