Sometimes five rounds aren’t enough. Mark Hominick walked into the Rogers Center a HUGE fan favorite over Jose Aldo and left every single bit of energy and fight he had in the Octagon, but when 25 minutes had come and gone, Jose Aldo was still the UFC Featherweight Champion.
Some people say you can win in losing. Most of the people on the losing side, would disagree. However, Mark Hominick won in losing Saturday night. He introduced the world to the toughest, most hard-nosed competitor we may have ever seen in the cage. He closed to the fifth round dominating the champion, but the first four rounds was another story.
This fight fits the instant classic mold. Mark Hominick showed up ready to go five rounds, Jose Aldo apparently showed up with enough gas for three and a half. However you still have to beat the champion to take his gold, and Mark Hominick couldn’t.
We could break this fight down round by round, but it doesn’t feel necessary. This was a story of three rounds of Aldo getting the better of Hominick, just out-pointing him with low kicks and jabs. He took Hominick down and kept him there, stinging him with elbows. He cut Hominick and put some large knots on his head.
The first three rounds were all pretty similar in that way. Aldo continuously hurt Hominick with leg kicks, and powerful elbows on the ground. However, in the fourth round, things got a little uncomfortable as Hominick after a particularly stiff elbow began developing a large hematoma on his forehead.
It actually grew to grotesque sizes and the referee had to stop the action to have the doctor weigh in on the now softball sized lump. The doctor allowed the fight to continue and after a few shots to the lump, things were looking pretty bad. The round came to a close, and most felt it would be stopped between rounds, especially since Aldo had just put together a dominant 10-8 round.
The team did a great job on the lump with the endswell between rounds, and when the doctor checked it, he determined Hominick could continue. What happened next is what makes sports amazing and awe inspiring. A bloodied, beaten and grotesque Mark Hominick took Aldo into deep water and nearly drowned him.
The fifth round began and Aldo snaps Hominick’s head back with a cross, but Hominick decides to take Aldo down and does. Hominick paws and drops some shots from the top, but nothing too damaging. Then, as the round continues, Hominick begins dropping big shots and Hammer fists down onto a wilting Josh Aldo. The fans in the stadium began to imagine the impossible and it got loud. Aldo tried to post up with his legs, but Hominick kept the pressure on and started landing very telling shots.
The fans roar filled the arena and Hominick would check the clock and then drill Aldo with shot after shot. You could see Aldo fading, but the clock struck zero, Aldo had made it out of the round and it was over. The decision was a forgone conclusion. Hominick would lose the decision, but in the process redefine toughness and on the sport’s biggest stage, become one of its biggest stars.
The fans are already requesting a rematch, but it looks as if Jose Aldo will fight in Philadelphia on August 6th at UFC 133 against undefeated prospect Chad Mendes. For Hominick, he’ll need a break after this fight, and will get the chance to relax with his baby who is due to be born in any day now. It was a tremendous fight, that was awarded Fight of the Night, earning the fighters a $129,000.00 bonus each.
