Props: Yahoo!Sports.com
Quoteworthy:
“They didn’t say nothing [about why the fight wasn’t ruled a no contest]. Nobody has given me an excuse. The only thing I’ve heard from fans and even the staff of UFC was that it’s bullshit…. All I know I turned around and I was screaming. Honestly, his finger went in my eye. It hurt like hell. I’ve never had that happen before, not that deep at least.”
Anthony Johnson talks about the technical knockout loss to Kevin Burns at UFC Fight Night 14 last night. “Rumble” received an accidental finger in the eye in the third round, which caused him to crash to the floor in agony. The referee thought he was dropped because of an uppercut (which grazed him) and waived off the fight. It was controversial; however, the officials don’t have the benefit of instant replay. And Johnson’s reaction to the eye poke made it appear that he was hurt with a punch and not a finger. Regardless, both fighters were classy after the bout. Perhaps we will see a rematch down the road sometime soon.
71 Comments »
rumble got screwed.. simple
How in the world can Mazzaggatti think that Rumble was KO’ed when he was screaming at the top of his lungs in pain? Its impossible to be KO’ed and scream at the same time and I know Maz heard the screams. He is a disgrace. 1st He robbed Brock out of a win against Mir, setting up a BS title shot for Frank Mir where he will get outclassed! Now he robs Rumble of a fight that he was 1 minute away from winning?
Fighters train really hard and losses really hurt. Not to mention a loss costs a fighter half of his pay….Wghat a joke, Mazzagatti should be forced to reimburce rumble financially!
How does he still have a job?
Yeah it is possible to get KO’ed and scream like that. I think Sean Salmon got KTFO’d once and shrieked like a dying rabbit. Your body can do all kinds of things when you get knocked out. Instant replay should be allowed for things like that, but I expect the commission will overturn the decision.
We better see a rematch. Rumble was clearly winning that fight no question. He was class after the fight even knowing he was screwed. I would like to see him get a boxing match with mazzasucky first. That should be Dana’s duty to get that signed.
Burns doesn’t even deserve a rematch. Johnson was tearing him apart. The only offense Burns had the entire night was the eye gouge. At least he stopped short of pulling some brass knucks out of his tights or having his corner distract the ref so he could hit Johnson with a steel hair.
I agree! I do not want to see a rematch. I already know who won that fight and so does everyone else (except Mazagatti)
He could probably get it overturned by the California State Athletic Commission similar to how Roger Huerta got his loss to Melvin Guilard overturned.
What’s the story behind that? I haven’t heard it.
Melvin Guillard had too much grease or oil or some nonsense on his body…
Oh. I heard that he wasn’t even that good in that fight too.
The reason the Huerta/Guillard decision was overturned was because Guillard’s corner were greasing him down between rounds. It got to the point that the referee was wiping Guillard off when it came time to fight after the 1 minute round break.
Add on top of it that the decision was pretty bullshit (you can find the fight on torrent, Huerta pretty obviously won it), and the referee himself pleaded Huerta’s case to the AC to get it overturned. Why the ref didn’t just stop it from the greasing, who knows.
that fight was oK, and weird! I wish they would fight again in the UFC!
We better see a rematch. Rumble was clearly winning that fight no question. He was class after the fight even knowing he was screwed. I would like to see him get a boxing match with mazza-sucky first. That should be Dana’s duty to get that signed.
I read in one of the other threads that they changed it from TKO to a decision victory. That would make more sense if they went to the scorecards because Johnson was unable to continue that close to the end of the fight, but the UFC site still has it as a TKO. Not sure if that is the way the decision would’ve/should’ve went either. Anyone hear anything more about this? No contest seems the fairest result.
ufc.com originally listed the result as a unanimous decision. They’re now listing it as a TKO as it was announced Saturday night. No contest doesn’t seem like the fairest result to me. Burns had been warned several times about the eye pokes. It should’ve been a DQ. Maybe a NC if it was the first eye poke that stopped him, but not the fourth.
Why is my comments not posting. This is the only thing that aggravates me with this site!!!!!
I hear you. It is ridiculis sometimes. You want to hear some feedback , so you type up something, only not to have it post for an hour, IF AT ALL.
I understand that Mazagatti may not have seen the eye poke. He must have, however, heard Rumble screaming as he went to the mat. I find myself wondering how many fighters scream after they’re knocked out ?
Mazagatti knew that he’d given Burns a warning for open-handed strikes. Couldn’t he at least have checked to see what actually happened before he waved the fight off?
Bad call and poor officiating IMHO.
The refs ans judges are getting as bad as the NBA refs.
No question it should have been a disqualification for Burns. What the ref did was very damaging to the sport. It simply tells all the fighters that cheating is ok. If Burns’ excuse for doing open-handed jabs is his injured fist, he should not have been fighting in the first place. By fighting he has put the safety and careers of other fighters at risk and it is simply not right. I like the UFC in general, but these moments are the low points for the UFC. Dana White … get it right!!
Guys sorry for the duplicate post. I commented 25 minutes before it went through.
It seemed like a pretty lousy decision to me when I watched it, I figured at worst it would be a no contest or something. Anthony Johnson really took it well though, much better than I would have if I were in his situation. I’d like to know what the hell Kevin Burns is even doing fighting if he can’t throw a punch with a closed fist for fear of breaking his hand again. Honestly it seems like those palm strikes have the potential to do more damage to his opponents from getting poked in the eyes than the risk of a hand fracture from throwing a punch. It would be one thing if he was able to strike cleanly with the palms, but it seemed like he poked him in the eye four times. It would be a lot easier to excuse it as an accident if it was once or twice, but the frequency of the eye gouges just made me feel like he has no business being in the cage if he can’t strike cleaner than that.
You’re right, there is no excuse. I was in Karate as a child, and I distinctly remember that proper form on a palm strike involves curling the tops of the fingers over and tucking the thumb in tight against the side of the hand. On top of the danger to the other fighter, Burns type palm strikes are just as likely to injure him as they are his opponents. He needs to get down to the local McDojo and learn some technique if that’s how he’s going to fight.
After Burns knows what happens when he does that open palm slap or punch(because he broke his hand 3 times in past 1.5 years).
If he continues to do that, that is some B.S. I mean he poked
Rumble 3 or 4 times at least and he NOW knows it happens and happens a lot with that open palm strike or whatever, open palm jab???
There has to be some penalty if he does it again in his next fight, just because he doesnt want to break his hand
I believe Burns really felt bad about it, but it’s terrible judgement on his part to enter the octogon. He wants to fight without being able to stike with that hand, and that takes GUTS, but he has to make an adjustment in his stike on that hand somehow or find another career. Accidently gouging out an opponents eye is not an option!
strike..lol not stike…
If the guy can’t close his fist to throw a punch he may want to pursue a career other than fighting.
I’ll fight him and take those slaps, but he has to realize that I’m just not very flexible, and my kicks to the body tend to stike the groin. Sorry ’bout that.
Burns should not have been allowed to fight with a broken hand. UFC is run by incompetent individuals.
If he were a more rounded and intelligent fighter he would have known he would get recovery time, but falling on the floor screaming in the fetal position, ACT for sympathy was stupid on his part.
you get a whole finger stuck in your eye and see how you react
If u were a more rounded and intelligent fan holmz76 you won’t make such stupid comments.
It wasn’t like that was the first poke he got in that fight holmz76, more like the fourth.
I don’t completely agree with holmz but I think there was a bit of an acting job going on… I don’t know why Rumble handled it so well? CB tapped out and he cryed like a b*tch, Rumble gets cheated out of a win and he didn’t seem too pissed off?
Class
Everyone was confused until they saw the replay. It is just a matter of getting the decision over turned now.
What about the people who bet on him? i feel bad for them.
I did bet on Johnson, and won. I belive the ruling of a TKO for Burns was overturned as a decision victory for Johnson. So, don’t feel bad for me. I won.
And where does it state that?
Right here chief.
Straight Wager 07/19/08 20:47 ET
bet 450.00 to win 150.52 (paid 600.52) Result: Wager Won
UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship - Welterweight Matchup
Anthony Johnson 1
Kevin Burns 0 07/19/08(21:00 ET)
Anthony Johnson -290
JUST HAVE A REMATCH AND HAVE JOHNSON WIN VIA EYE POKE AND CALL IT EVEN. SHOULD HAVE BEEN A NO CONTEST. BUT RUBBISH OUTCOME CONSIDERING JOHNSON WAS CLEARLY HEADING TOWARDS A DECISION WIN!
I agree that the fight should of been a no contest. but that kevin burns displayed that he has a CHIN !
why can’t they overturn the decision like they did with the diaz/gomi fight?
if a decision is THAT bad, it should be overturned as soon as they get some slow motion footage from a good angle to verify the action and the reaction. its some snarflearfle bullshit!
Personally, I don’t want to see a rematch, Johnson WON in the eyes of everybody but ref & judges, so lets just see him move to the next upcoming fight that will make his career propserous, he’s earned it. He has nothing to prove by fighting Burns again, maybe in the future, but not now.
Agreed. I think that if Johnson were to eventually get a title, then he could get a rematch against burns. and maybe clementi too. I think we shouldn’t count out Kevin Burns though. He had good stand up and a good chin. Not to mention that submission upset that he pulled. He might be a force to be reckoned with.
The problem with Burns is that he sticks that chin right out in the open for his opponents. He really needs to work on the top half of his stance.
WORST MMA ref decision EVER. Mazagatti is an IDIOT…what fight is he watching if he didn’t see the eye poke?
He is 5 feet from the fighters, AND he warned him about it…not to mention the screaming from Rumble Johnson.
You don’t scream and hold your eye if you get KO’d
IDIOT Maz…retire already
I completely agree. I’ve never heard anyone turn and scream from a punch.
I wonder if the UFC is going to cough up the bonus $$$ to Burn’s for the win??? and not for Johnson for the loss???
bull$hit. NC or DQ. Anything else is ridiculous. This really sucks I was pumped to see Anthony again.
the ufc doesn’t use replays like the nfl does. from the refs point of view he saw what looked like the uppercut landing, called it a tko at the time. couldn’t change it from a replay because the ufc doesn’t use the replay like that like the nfl uses it to overturn calls. Ref called what he saw and thats that. he may have got screwed but can’t do anything about it now.
I’d rather see a guy get cheated out then fighers faking and taking dives like Soccer to get a judges rulling
Maybe the refs are being extorted by the mob.
Burns is an amazing fighter. that guy is damn good. you all may call that fight bull shit but its not Burns’ fault. Rumble is such a good striker. but what i didnt under stand is why he wasnt standing with Burns. he took him down ALOT. from what i saw, those two fighters are going far in the UFC. awesome stand up war besides the finger in the eye(second one. at first i just thought he hit him with that upper cut and maybe broke his jaw or something.(hence the screaming). didnt catch it first that his finger caught his eye. Awesome fight though
Ever try to scream with a broken jaw?
Johnson had to take Burns down. What else are you gonna do to gain time to recover from the eye gouges? Take him down and wince.
Mazzagati and Burns are tools. Burns should fucking learn how to throw a proper palm strike. Watch Pancrase for goodness sakes (Bas, both Shamrocks, Marquardt are all former Pancrase). There are no closed fist strikes allowed there, but you still rarely see eye pokes.
How on earth could any intelligent fight fan call Burns a “tool”??? He clearly was more rounded than Johnson, took a punch like none of his opponents has yet, and had him in full guard the entire time on the ground patiently waiting to submit him.
He wasn’t afraid to stand up with one hand. Every fighter uses the same tactic, learn a little about MMA Pat before calling an obviously VERY skilled fighter a “tool” fighting on 6 weeks rest no doubt!
Both Johnson and Burns are studs, Burns is way more versatile on the ground, Johnson is an animal on his feet…
“took a punch like none of his opponents has yet”
What’s that, MMA 101 by Cabbage Correira?
“had him in full guard the entire time on the ground patiently waiting to submit him.”
Ppl argue whether attempted subs are worth points, and here you are giving Burns credit b/c he THOUGHT ABOUT submitting Rumble? LOL!
“Every fighter uses the same tactic”
I’ll give him this one, winning by eye poke is a hell of a strategy.
Johnson performed so well and got screwed over so much that burns shouldnt get a rematch and johnson should get a good fight with a honorable name in my opinion. this was not a fight for johnson that he “needs” a rematch. he was winning it with a 100%.
He didn’t throw a Jab, a palm strike or even an eye poke. That was without a doubt an eye jab. If you watch the replays of the “palm strike”, he goes in fingers first. Dude must have learned that from some McDojo Krav maga studio. Funny part is that Burns acted like “I don’t know what happened? He just fell down.” How is it you don’t know that a eye is stuck to your finger? Doesn’t it feel a little different than hitting skull? ANOTHER THING!! Are you gonna engage with someone when every time you get close he tries to dig out your eye ball? No. Your gonna take him down and protect your eyes. I’ll tell you one thing, if I ever have to protect my family, somebody is getting the Kevin Burns with a side order of Andrew Golotta.
“And the winner by TKO due to a fish hook…KEVIN “FIRE ANUS” BURNS!!!!!
El has a point. That strike was thrown fingers first. I don’t think it was intentional, but if he hasn’t thrown a closed left fist for 1.5 years you’d think he would have learned how to do it right. I never thought it was the uppercut, I knew it was an eye poke right away.
To me the decision is VERY simple. He eye gouged FOUR times. That is a blatant violation of the rules, accidental or not. Burns should be disqualified. I don’t know if the commission can do that, but they cannot let the TKO stand.
Anthony Johnson got his eye fu*ked up that was bs he didnt get hit with that last punch jonson was winning the fight to that suck they should have call the fight off they told him to stop that eye pokeing bs
good to see so much support for Johnson. what kills me is, on seeing the replay, the judges got all soccer official on it and said fuck all, and that mouthpiece Rogan was suddenly lost for words when Burns casually explains that since he repeatedly broke his hand ‘hey, that’s how I throw a punch’.
maybe if fighters get knee injuries they should be entitled to batter opponents with their crutches. the mind boggles.
Kicking Burns in the nuts in the 1st round is ok though, got it! Shit happens in MMA, Johnson said it himself. Burns has had 10 pro fights with not a single problem b4 with his rampant “eye gouging”. It is random and it happens all the time. The decision was wrong, but how is that his fault?? He was as surprised as us.
Johnson got screwed, but he manned up and knows this can happen. Most of you that are judging Burns on this fight may eat your crow in due time…
I saw Johnson slightly winning the 1st 2 rounds, by forcing his will with a couple of takedowns. Despite doing NO damage on the ground, and being CLEARLY the more tired fighter in the 3rd with Burns stalking him. Burns had 6 weeks to prepare for your GOD while working a full time job, and gets no respect cuz of a random eye shot. Nice. Had 9 days to prepare for Carneiro, and took care of business there.
Next time kick him in the nuts right away instead so everyone forgets about it later.
UFC is a joke. The ref is/was incompetent. Burns should have been DQ’d after the 1st eye poke. I’m voting with my dollars. No more UFC PPV, merchandise, etc. $$$, from me….
I’m no expert, but shouldn’t a pre-match physical show that Burns is incapable of fighting if his hand is broken too badly to punch with? Seems to me there’s a lot of blame to go around here.
about that fight… seemed to me that johnson couldnt hang part of the time which is why he would take him down and then just sit there.. he didnt seem real interested in this fight at all.. his striking was second best for most of the fight.. he looked tired and lacked confidence.. and he kept doing the little whiny thing whenever he got poked… then he overreacted when he got poked at the end.. instead of going down in a heap he should have done something different… turned around and waved to the ref or something..
my opinion based on the fight as a whole was that he ultimately wanted out.. had he acted normally he would have gotten his five minutes.. he knew the fight would be ended by the finger poke and overacted accordingly… except i dont think he realized that he would lose via tko… he figured NC or DQ.
i was surprised by his lack of “outrage.”
I personally am not familiar with either one of these fighters, but what I do know is that eye gouging, according to UFC rules is considered a foul, just as a groin or throat strike. If it were the 4th time he had been kicked in the groin, and Johnson fell to the ground, the fight would have been stopped, and Burns would have been DQ’d. Dana White is usually a no BS kind of guy and I would like to see him do what ever it is he needs to do to give Johnson the win and the money. I have seen Mazzagatti referee many UFC fights and he has been very good at walking that line of protecting the fighter, while not stopping the fight too quickly. This time he blew it. I have never seen a fighter “accidently” catch a guy in the eye more than twice in a fight. The 3rd time he did it, he should have been out. In boxing, if the fight was stopped due to an unintentional head butt…they would have gone to the judges score card. I believe that Johnson was winning the fight and with a point being taken away from Burns for the 2nd eye poke, I think that took away any doubt. Johnson, Burns, Dana, Joe, and anyone else who watched this fight and has a pulse, knows that Johnson deserves the win and the money. If anybody here can convey they outrage that people are expressing here to somebody in the UFC organization we would all appreciate it.