Shawn Tompkins passed away

There have been a few on twitter reporting that Shawn Tompkins has passed away....that is very unfortunate.

[VCURamFan]

Man, that is a huge blow to the MMA community if it's true!

[VCURamFan]

From MMAFighting.com:

Famed MMA Trainer Shawn Tompkins Dead at 37


Shawn Tompkins, the Canadian trainer who helped coach several fighters to mixed martial arts prevalence, has died. He was 37 years old.

His death was confirmed by Mike Straka, a friend of Tompkins' who worked with him at TapouT.

Straka told MMA Fighting that Tompkins was in Canada at the time of his death with his brother-in-law Sam Stout and longtime fighter Mark Hominick. The cause is unknown pending an autopsy.

Tompkins' wife Emilie was in Las Vegas, where the couple lived.

The Ontario, Canada native fought as a professional mixed martial artist, but never won, going 0-4. But it was as a trainer that he made his mark in the sport, helping notable fighters like Stout, Hominick and Chris Horodecki to the big leagues.

As a trainer at Xtreme Couture, Tompkins was in the corner of Randy Couture for several of the legend's fights.

In 2009 though, he struck out on his own, moving to the newly opened TapouT gym in Las Vegas, where he was the head trainer. He also worked with former UFC light-heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort for several bouts.

More recently, he had worked with Hominick prior to his featherweight title loss to Jose Aldo at UFC 129.

Tompkins' death cast a pall of sadness over Sunday's UFC Live event in Milwaukee, as word of his passing spread as the main card was about to begin

[flo]

Oh my goodness!! WTH? How sad, any news yet about the cause of death?

RIP Shawn and my sympathies to his wife and family.

[Tyburn]

The only thing I heard is that he went to sleep...and never woke up...whatever killed him appears to be unknown at this time

His last face book entry was about being home alone and bored in the early hours of Saturday Morning, and apparently he was present at some Canadian fights on Saturday night. Somewhere at a place called Hamilton. At which he is reported to have seemed perfectly well. He made no facebook entry on Sunday...which is slightly unusual if only that he might post three or four times a day usually.

17 hours ago his page begins to fill with mourners...

wow!,very sad.r.i.p shawn tompkins,a true pioneer of this great sport.

Healthy guy under 40, dies from heart attack?