The most unsatisfying result in MMA this year was Kevin Burns' TKO win over Anthony Johnson in July, a win Burns got because he accidentally poked Johnson in the eye and referee Steve Mazzagatti didn't see it.But while that fight ended the wrong way, the UFC did the right thing by scheduling Johnson vs. Burns II, a fight that will take place Saturday night in the Ultimate Fighter Finale. Cage Potato has an interview with Johnson and one with Burns, and it's no surprise that the two of them view their first fight differently.
Here's what Johnson has to say about the Nevada State Athletic Commission denying his appeal of the result:
I think they should have overturned it. It's just bull crap that they didn't overturn it. ... I think if it had been one of the poster boys they would have been all over it. If I was Chuck Liddell, they would have overturned that so fast. It wasn't even a punch. I could see if I got punched in the eye and got hurt, hey, that happens. But I got poked in the eye. You don't give somebody a loss when you know they got poked in the eye and that's what ended the fight. That's disrespectful towards me.For his part, Burns says this:
If they started overturning decisions on appeal, there would be an influx of appeals across the board of people trying to get results overturned. I guess that's why the ref and the judges are there.I like Burns a lot. Prior to his fight with Johnson, I referred to Burns as one of my favorite stories in UFC, a guy who had been a club fighter in Iowa with a day job and a dream of making it big, and then that dream came true when he got a call offering a one-time chance to fight in the UFC against Roan Carneiro. But I'm with Johnson: The athletic commission's decision was bull crap. I'll be rooting for Johnson to settle the score on Saturday night.
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