Shawn Tompkins dies, aged 37.

MrStuffins

A fighter close to Shawn Tompkins says the renowned trainer passed away this morning.

Veteran lightweight John Gunderson today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Tompkins "didn't wake up," but he was still unclear on the details surrounding his passing.

Longtime friend and confidant Chris Horodecki said the trainer was in Canada and had spoken to him yesterday but was unaware of the bad news when contacted today.

Additional sources ultimately confirmed the trainer's death with MMAjunkie.com.

Tompkins first emerged on the national MMA scene as a coach in the now-defunct International Fight League. He was first an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Anacondas and was later promoted to head coach after MMA legend Bas Rutten stepped down from the role to assume a commentator position. He later split with the company.

Tompkins then migrated to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and served as a coach there before splitting with the gym and joining the TapouT Training Facility.

The coach, who also competed professionally for a handful of fights a decade ago, nurtured the careers of several notable fighters in his career, including Gunderson, Horodecki, Sam Stout and Mark Hominick. Tompkins, who frequently appeared on MMAjunkie.com Radio, was 37.

Check back with MMAjunkie.com for an update on this unfortunate news.

A sad day for everyone involved with the sport

fightireland

Very sad indeed.

Tito Ortiz

Any word yet on what happened to him?

Evil_Clown

Not much released yet, this is from Josh Gross on ESPN

Tompkins is survived by his wife, Emilie, who confirmed her husband's death late Sunday night.

"Unfortunately I'm in Las Vegas and he's in Canada," she said. "I'm hearing through my family and his family that he didn't wake up this morning. They're going to do an autopsy tomorrow, so we don't know any of the actual details. But from what we do know, he passed away in his sleep."

El Guapo!

Sam Stout said it was a heart attack that killed him.

Shawn Tompkins, the renowned mixed martial arts trainer that died on Sunday morning, passed away of a heart attack, according to his brother-in-law, UFC fighter Sam Stout.

Under Ontario law, privacy exemptions keep autopsy information from public view, but Stout revealed the results of the Monday autopsy to The London Free Press, an Ontario newspaper.

"I don't know what to say," Stout told the paper. "It's not supposed to be happen to a healthy 37-year-old person. Who would think he had to get checked out for that?"

Stout also told the newspaper that funeral arrangements would be made on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Tompkins' management team, AMR Group, is setting up a Shawn Tompkins Memorial Fund, which is accepting contributions to help Tompkins' widow Emilie with burial costs.

Tompkins shot to fame in the MMA world with a core group of three fighters who were also from Ontario: Stout, Mark Hominick and Chris Horodecki.

He also spent time training former champions like Randy Couture and Vitor Belfort.

At the time of his death, the 37-year-old Tompkins was in Ontario working with some of his younger fighters. According to those that were with him, he went to sleep after an event and never woke up.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/08/16/sam-stout-autopsy-showed-shawn-tompkins-died-of-heart-attack/