(‘I’m just saying, the guy has two eyes. Why wouldn’t I want a rematch?’)

Kevin “Pokey” Burns feels bad about his victory via sticking his fingers in Anthony Johnson’s eyes back in July. Anthony Johnson also feels bad about it, which is why he appealed the decision in a losing effort. But now Burns says he wants a rematch with Johnson in order to “make it right”:

“I guess what’s really going to be the true-tell sign at the end of the day is when we meet in the cage again, and we have a chance to compete against each other. Then the fans will get to see what they wanted to see, and we’ll get to make it right.”

“I hated more the way the fight ended than probably Anthony did,” Burns said. “It didn’t really come up to par. I’m not that kind of competitor. I would have rather been knocked out, personally, than to win like that.”

While you have to appreciate the old Don Frye ‘let’s do it again, brother’ sentiment, I’m not so sure that Burns really hated it more than Johnson did. Johnson, let’s not forget, had to have eye surgery to repair a detached retina as a result of the debacle. He also still has the loss on his record.

Burns says he’s been taking some heat from fans for the win and wants to clear the air about some of the rumors that have been flying about him:

(Kevin Burns shows off his flawless gouging technique. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

It’s probably not the way he wanted to make UFC history, but Anthony Johnson has officially become the first fighter to lose a fight in the Octagon via eye-pokes. After being handed an idiotic TKO loss at July’s “Silva vs. Irvin” card against Kevin Burns — who poked Johnson in the eyes multiple times throughout their fight until Rumble collapsed to the mat in agony during the third round — Johnson filed an appeal with the Nevada State Athletic Commission to have the result overturned to a DQ victory, or at least a no-contest. Unfortunately, it was rejected:

“Based on advice from the Nevada Attorney General’s office, the appeal was rejected due to lack of remedy,” Kizer revealed to MMAFrenzy.com.

Horseshit. Are they saying they have no way of changing results after the fact? That Steve Mazzagatti‘s decisions can never be overruled by a higher authority? Johnson had to undergo laser surgery to repair a detached retina and needed stitches in his eye — it would have been nice for the NSAC to acknowledge that they don’t condone what he had to go through. Still, Johnson has managed to keep a positive attitude through the entire experience. As he told TAGG Radio, “They can keep the loss on my record if they want to because I know I will come back better and stronger next time.”

(Steve Mazzagatti hangin’ ringside with Anthony “Two Face” Johnson.)

According to Fightline.com, EliteXC’s “Unfinished Business” show was the site of a very touching reconciliation, as Anthony “Rumble” Johnson buried the hatchet with the man responsible for turning what should have been a DQ victory at “UFC: Silva vs. Irvin” into a TKO loss. As the story goes:

…Johnson approached Mazzagatti at ringside during last night’s event. Mazzagatti and Johnson shook hands and hugged. Mazzagatti apologized to Johnson and noted that it was “a bad call” and Johnson immediately accepted, saying it was all good.

If you’ll recall, Kevin Burns repeatedly poked Johnson in the eye during their match, leading to a serious retinal injury that would later require surgery; Mazzagatti awarded Burns the win when Johnson couldn’t continue. Rumble’s surgery was pretty grisly, apparently, though it was ultimately a success. As he told MMA Weekly:

“My retina was damaged, possibly detached, and the laceration was pretty long. It was basically from one end of my eye to the other. They did laser surgery that took about two hours, put some stitches on it basically. The doctor said I should be back in the September. So, hopefully you’ll get to see me do my thing in September or October…

I have nothing against Kevin; but personally I don’t want him to fight again until he gets his hands fixed. I don’t want any other fighter to go through what I went through. I don’t think it’s cool that he fought with his hands like that. It put himself and others that he’s competing with in danger. Just look at me. I can accept a loss, but I can’t accept a loss or the consequence of someone else’s wrong doing in a fight like that.”

We’ll let you know when Shayna Baszler forgives Steve for making Cristiane Cyborg knock her out twice.

(One of these men fought Anderson Silva on Saturday — can you tell which one? Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

Affliction’s next show will maybe be held on November 8th, maybe in Atlantic City, and Aleksander Emelianenko maybe doesn’t have hepatitis. (MMA Junkie)

Anthony Johnson’s agent Ken Pavia is going to formally appeal Rumble’s loss via eye-pokes. (Five Ounces of Pain)

Frank Shamrock says he’ll fight Robbie Lawler in November if Lawler beats Scott Smith this Saturday. (CBS)

UFC Undisputed will allow fans to see exactly how UFC matchmaker Joe Silva ranks each division’s fighters. (Bloody Elbow).

If you like watching things that are boring but sort of historic, then this video of Forrest Griffin being laid on by UFC legend Dan Severn for three rounds is a must-see. (MMA Scraps)

Anderson Silva is kinda bummed that he fucked James Irvin up so hard. (The UG)

Anybody wanna buy the Chicago Cubs? (Wall Street Fighter)

If you feel like blowing a half-hour, check out this collection of 81 amazing animated gifs. Rampage and Minowaman make an appearance! (Holy Taco)

(Courtesy of MMA-Core.com)

In case you’re wondering what a TKO via eye poke really looks like, here’s a close-up view from the Anthony Johnson-Kevin Burns debacle that you can watch again and again. Notice how, after the poke and the ensuing uppercut, the left hand that Burns comes back around with also has the fingers extended outward in poke-ready mode. I would suggest refining his punching technique, but it did result in him getting the win. As my grandfather used to say, if it ain’t broke, why not poke?

In other UFC Fight Night news, check out the below video of the post-fight press conference. Skip to 6:45 to hear Dana White give his take on Affliction and their fighters. Then he goes ahead and bashes the IFL one more time, mostly out of habit.

You may have seen the raw footage of this floating around a week or so ago, but here’s the edited, minute-and-change version of Rich Franklin battling Wanderlei Silva in Rock/Paper/Scissors. The contest was a special exhibition bout that opened the 2008 Bud Light/USA Rock Paper Scissors League Championships — think “click-clack” for white hipsters — which went down June 21-22 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. How ’bout Franklin’s bitch-scream at 0:41? In a way, I think this video is very similar to how an actual fight between Franklin and Silva would go: Silva would come out strong in the first round, then Franklin would rally in the second before smashing Wandy’s scissors with a rock.

Also worth watching:
Countdown to Affliction: Banned (full 30-minute version)
Checking in with Anthony Johnson and Jake O’Brien
Canseco vs. Sikahema (ringside view)
The World’s Worst Stripper (Not safe for retinas, eardrums)

(No ice cream makes Brandon Vera sad.)

Yesterday, we reported on the July 19th event that the UFC was throwing together — definitely not in an effort to siphon off interest from Affliction: Banned, by the way — which will be headlined by Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin (ha!). Though the event isn’t listed on UFC.com yet, it’s being widely referred to as “UFC Fight Night 14,” and some notable matchups are coming together:

Brandon Vera will reportedly be making his light heavyweight debut against Reese Andy, a 7-1 Octagon newcomer and IFL vet who holds notable wins over Kala Kolohe Hose, Jamal Patterson, and Krzysztof Soszynski. Vera makes the move to 205 just six weeks after his UFC 85 loss to Fabricio Werdum.

UFN 14 will also see the return of Jake O’Brien — who was dropped from the UFC after losing to Andrei Arlovski in March — as he’s been re-acquired to take on AKA heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez.

In the welterweight division, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (who most recently beat the freckles off of Tommy Speer at UFN 13), will reportedly return to the cage to do battle with Kevin “The Fire” Burns, who’s coming off a shocking choke-out of BJJ black belt Roan Carneiro during his Octagon debut at UFC 85.

And finally, the source is unclear but MMA Weekly and MMA Junkie are listing Frankie Edgar vs. Hermes Franca on the UFN 14 card; the lightweight bout had originally been announced for UFC 87: Seek and Destroy on August 9th.

More to come…

(Speer’s turning to jelly wasn’t good enough for Johnson to bank $20,000.)

Ken-Flo and J-Lau pulled $20k each for “Fight ‘o da’ Night” bonuses from last night’s UFC Fight Night 13, and it was well-deserved. In case you just woke up, Florian beat Lauzon with his “mount”. Been there, done that. As for the other money-pluses, not all were as dead-on.

James Irvin tied the UFC record with the fastest KO in the organization’s history and grabbed a fistful of dough ($20k) for “Knockout of the Night”. Sure, Irvin did it in 8 seconds, but it was a TKO — not to mention that the victim of the quick grounding (Houston Alexander) was able to profusely protest crazy Steve Mazzagatti’s stoppage of the fight. This would deserve the KO bonus if Anthony Johnson hadn’t fought on the same card. “Rumble” Johnson simply got ripped off. His opponent, Tommy Speer, was KTFO and couldn’t move from his collapsed position against the cage. How does this not get “Knockout of the Night”? If Houston Alexander can jump up and bitch to the ref about the stoppage, there is no way in hell James Irvin should be $20k richer.

Mazzagatti is quickly rising in my “People I Hate List” — and yes, I keep such a list, right next to my collection of Good Housekeeping back issues. Stopping that fight was just retarded. And a strong case can be made for him shooting his stoppage wad in the Karo Parisyan fight, too. Anyway, I’m thinking Mazz the Mustache is either on goofballs so he wants love not war, or he had a side deal with J. Irvin. I’m certainly not one for conspiracies, but this is some bullshit.

The “Submission of the Night” kick went to Nate Diaz and that’s more than cool — especially since we suggested it. He had a solid comeback win over Kurt Pellegrino after taking a good thrashing, and his triangle choke in the second round wrapped up the $20k bonus in legendary fashion.

What do you say to that, Mazzagatti?

(Props MMAJunkie)

Okay, so Tommy Speer’s next opponent isn’t a total can. In fact, Anthony Johnson looked pretty damn promising in his Octagon debut at Ultimate Fight Night 10 (6/12/07), disposing of Chad Reiner with a 13-second knockout that should have made it onto our list. Reiner left the UFC directly after this fight and has since gone 3-0 in smaller shows.