(Hominick may be next in line to try to crack Aldo’s seemingly impenetrable armor in January.)

WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo revealed in an interview with Tatame over the weekend that his next scheduled bout will be against former TKO featherweight champion Mark Hominick in January.

"Whoever it is, [I] always respect everyone," Aldo said. "We already have a defense in January, [and it] will be against Mark Hominick, a Canadian [who is] very good at kickboxing."

Aldo seemed a bit unsure about whether or not the fight with "The Machine" is a sure thing so we contacted Hominick’s longtime mentor and trainer Shawn Tompkins today to find out if the fight is a go.

Tompkins tells us that his charge is still in a cast recovering from a broken hand he suffered training for his impressive victory over Leonard Garcia at WEC 51 last month.


Although he would not confirm whether they had signed on for the January fight with Aldo, Tompkins did that they would take the fight in a heartbeat if it was offered.

We have since confirmed with another independent source that the bout has indeed been tentatively penciled in for the yet-to-be announced January WEC 54 show which may possibly take place in Phoenix, AZ and that the bout could be signed in the next few weeks if Hominick is cleared to begin train by an orthopedic surgeon.

The general consensus amongst fans and the MMA media about the potential match-up is why Hominick and not someone like Josh Grispi, who beat the Thamesford, Ontario, Canada native in 2008.

Besides timing (Grispi is set to face Eric Koch in Novemeber at WEC 52) it boiled down to the fact that Hominick, who has finished three of his last four opponents since the loss to Grispi, took out Garcia, who was rumored to be slated to get the next shot after Manny Gamburyan.

It’s likely that Grispi will get the next shot after Hominick if he gets by Koch. Or if he comes out of the fight unscathed and Hominick doesn’t get medical clearance, he could step in to face Aldo in January.