Welterweights Anthony Johnson (5-1) and Kevin Burns (6-1) are set to do battle at UFC Fight Night 14 at The Palms Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 19.
MMAmania.com learned about the match up this afternoon.
Johnson destroyed The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 6 finalist, Tommy Speer, at UFC Fight Night 13 via first round knockout. “Rumble” also made quick work of Chad Reiner in his Octagon debut with a 12-second first round knockout at UFC Fight Night 10 back in June 2007.
Sandwiched between those fights Johnson lost to Rich Clementi at UFC 76: “Knockout” via submission (rear naked choke) in a catchweight bout that was contested at 177 pounds because it was scheduled on short notice.
Burns — a banker by day and fighter by night — burst on to the scene with an impressive submission win over veteran and Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist, Roan Carneiro, at UFC 85: “Bedlam” earlier this month on just two weeks notice.
That’s impressive.
He’ll likely look to take this fight to the ground as soon as possible to avoid the heavy-handed attack of Johnson.
Stay tuned for more details on this developing card, which features UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva taking on James Irvin in a non-title light heavyweight bout in the main event of the eving.
29 Comments »
oooh not bad!
Kevin Burns looked good in his last fight…… well so did Johnson! should be good!
im excited for this fight actuall anthony rumble johnson is a very impressive striker an i think he is gona knock this guys head clean off
Johnson by something seriously brutal. I fear for Mr. Burns in this one. Nice win last week, but lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice. Johnson is way different than Roan Carneiro too.
Yeah, u really have to enjoy watchin RUMBLE fight. THat kid is super athletic and a very Brutal striker. His sprawl is strong so he should have no trouble keeping the fight standing, where it will be a matter of time before Rumble takes his head off!
I think burns has a decent chance in this fight. Rich clementi was able to submit johnson at welter weight. If Burns can get past the sprawl, he could work a submission.
Really lookin forward to seeing Johnson fight again. His first fight against Reiner was very impressive. Then he fought Rich Clementi on short notice at a catch weight. He lost, however, was winning the fight until he gassed. Even looked good on the ground with Clementi until he gassed, badly, which was most likely due to lack of time to train, taking it on short and all. I think he’ll keep it standing and finish Burns in round 1. But Burns looked real good against Roan. So if he can get it to the ground, should be interesting.
Anthony Johnson is a beast! If he can keep this standing, he is EXPLOSIVE and will definitely finish this fight… if he can stay off his back!
When will this be made OFFICIAL by the UFC??
This will be a great fight but Anthony Johnson should get another big KO here.
poor kevin. i wonder what the bank customers are going to think of him when his face is all rearranged.
antony johnson vs. thiago alves in one half year would be the best striker fights in UFC welterweight history!!!
That would be BAD ASS!!!!!!
AGREED!
jake obrien has re signed with ufc and will fight cain valesques on this card
and vera will fight reese andy former ifl fighter
is this for certain??
Not to thrilled about this fight.
How the hell did O’brien get re-signed? pATHETIC!!!
Hopefullyt Vasquez makes quick work of him!
That should be an interesting fight.
Jake “the blanket”… Say it ain’t so.
anthony johnson looks like Mike Tyson in the Pic. just a little thinner
Both guys are good and strong, actually how good is Anthony on his back?
I don’t know, I’ve never seen him on his back. Anybody know if he was on his back against Clementi? I missed that fight? In any case, with his length, he should use the body triangle a la Anderson Silva.
Body Tiangle is a great idea for Johnson!
What a joke that Johnson - Burns fight was. Burns clearly poked Johnson in the eye and he still wins the fight? completly rigged!!! Somebody clearly made a lot of money on burns to win because that is no question a disqualification. Even without the eye gouging Johnson dominated that fight!! what a joke!
You got that right! Burns gouged him in the eyes at least three or four times prior to the one that stopped the fight! He even looked at the ref, who had a really bad angle, after he did it with this look that said “uh, can i hit him now?” which screams guilt to me. On top of all that, Johnson owned him the two rounds prior, I call BULLSHIT!!!! Burns owes him a rematch! what a load of shit!
Burns DID NOT mean to poke Johnson in the eye. Burns has an old injury to his hand that limits him making a fist at this time. Burns is use to fighting mostly on the ground so this problem hasn’t been an issue until he fought Johnson who likes to stand up to fight and more boxing was demanded of Burns. I heard that it’s possible the ref was new and he did not see the final poke in the eye. He thought Burns connected that uppercut to send Johnson to the ground and that’s how he made his decision. Burns DID NOT want to win that way and the ref did make a bad call. Both men are good people inside the ring and out. I know Burns will want a rematch with Johnson to try to make things right. Burns is here to stay in the UFC and so is Johnson.