Cagewriter - UFC

It's hard to imagine anything more devastating than prior head kicks landed by Rashad Evans (on Sean Salmon) and Gabe Gonzaga (on Cro Cop). Tonight, Anthony Johnson moved into that group. He put Kevin Burns to sleep with a left kick to the head. Burns was out on the way down to the mat. Johnson tried to throw one more punch but it was over :28 of the third.

"I really don't know what to say. I really started working on my kicks two months ago," said Johnson who is working with Cung Le and Josh Thompson. "I have the best trainers in the world. It just happened, I decided to throw it and it worked."

Wilson Gouveia was probably thinking he may get Knockout of the Night after his quick finish against Jason MacDonald. It has to go to Johnson after that shot.

The story of the fight were Johnson's jabs. He landed several that looked like hooks with Burn's head snapping back. The guys had some great exchanges and Burns showed a great chin before he got blasted.

Johnson freaked out in the cage right after the KO until he realized Burns was sleeping. You can't blame the guy. It's been a long time on the comeback trail for Johnson (pictured after UFN 14) who suffered a severe eye injury the last time these guys fought.

NOTE: We're doing a live post-fight radio show from Las Vegas. I'll be joined by fighters from the card, Matt Serra, Stephen Bonnar and Sam Caplan from CBSSports.com. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.

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35 Comments

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  1. Ican2
    1. Posted by Ican2 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    Nice fight..great all around skills..Congrats on the beautiful head kick...
  2. Clint
    2. Posted by Clint Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:27 pm EDT

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    Ka-Pow! KO'd by the power of a shinny shin shin!
  3. Norman W
    3. Posted by Norman W Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:41 pm EDT

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    this is up there with napao's kick! good revenge for rumble on eye-poke burns. rumble was the winner tonight like he should have been the last time they met. burns is better suited at eye-gouging olympics, perhaps he can practice on cofield.
  4. Dutchmeister
    4. Posted by Dutchmeister Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:34 pm EDT

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    Redemption is sweet, ain't it? Congrats to Anthony "Rumble" Johnson for handling business.
  5. BearDown
    5. Posted by BearDown Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:23 pm EDT

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    I really like this kid as a fighter. Even when he got poked in the eye in his last fight (which I was at); he showed class. Johnson is vunerable to the front kick and straight left but I think with more experience and with the right training (BTW-get out of San Jose) this guy has the potential to be great. Kudos Mr. Johnson.
  6. Kwest
    6. Posted by Kwest Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:18 pm EDT

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    get out of San Jose, Shamrock Martial arts, AKA, a couple other gyms I'm forgetting San Jose is a great place for MMA
  7. Tris E
    7. Posted by Tris E Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:51 pm EDT

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    Rumbele young man rumble
  8. Tris E
    8. Posted by Tris E Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:51 pm EDT

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    Rumble*
  9. sugar3whayes
    9. Posted by sugar3whayes Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:47 pm EDT

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    Great kick he never saw it coming Johnson sould work on his stand up it needs to be a bit sharper.
  10. kobe 4 life
    10. Posted by kobe 4 life Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:20 pm EDT

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    #5 you are an idiot. Get out of San Jose is the most dumb comment you could of come up with. Like what #6 said we have Shamrock's arts, Cung Le's arts, and of course AKA one of the best places to train. When you pretend like you know martial arts, at least study before you open your mouth. All these places have top notch fighters! The only other city that would be in the conversation would in Las Vegas.
  11. DICK DA BRUISER
    11. Posted by DICK DA BRUISER Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:29 pm EDT

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    rumble johnson is a class act and deserved what should have been his in the first fight and thats the win!!!
  12. Smokin Joe Fraze
    12. Posted by Smokin Joe Fraze Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:45 pm EDT

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    Kick of the century is Cro Cop vs Igor or Gonzaga vs Cro Cop (or Cro Cop vs Wand). Johnson's and Rashad's are not in the same ball park.
  13. Steven W
    13. Posted by Steven W Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:47 pm EDT

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    i dunno dana, why do you not consider rashad's to be in the same ball park? as far as level of devastation goes i think sean salmon took a couple days to move from that spot, and i'm pretty sure his toes are still stuck in the curled position. it's tough for me to decide which is best, but my only guess is that you don't like that one because of rashad's quality of opponent (and tendency to be violently ktfo'd).........do tell
  14. Steven W
    14. Posted by Steven W Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:47 pm EDT

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    cro cop vs igor was pretty wicked though....guess that's what happens when you put a 5ft 8 guy in with a tall head kicking machine
  15. bk
    15. Posted by bk Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:18 pm EDT

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    Gilbert Ivel's headkick KO of Gary Goodridge was near the top as well....
  16. mike j
    16. Posted by mike j Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:55 pm EDT

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    Yes this was up there as top three greatest kicking ko's. Great fight
  17. boozinjedi
    17. Posted by boozinjedi Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:29 pm EDT

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    Amazing kick!!
    He didn't just get knocked out...
    HE GOT KNOCKED THE F**K OUT!!!!
    KTFO!!!
    You will definitely see that in highlight packages for a long,long time!!
  18. Steven W
    18. Posted by Steven W Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:47 pm EDT

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    oh good call BK, i forgot all about Yvel's kick.....remember goodridge's wife or whoever she was screaming and running into the ring straight into the full mount?! WTF? haha, the doctors couldn't even get to him cuz she was all psycho......and now that i think of it, nobody mentioned mark coleman getting his face imploded by pete williams either.
  19. Karl A
    19. Posted by Karl A Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:47 pm EDT

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    I've seen Johnson a few times now and he looks better everytime. Good fight, incredible head kick.
  20. BearDown
    20. Posted by BearDown Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:23 pm EDT

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    Just because you put your name on a gym doesn't mean that the instructors are as good as the name on the gym or even those guys at all (it's called marketing children). Xtreme Courture has a bunch of franchises all over the country. Does that mean Randy actually travels to each one and trains people everyday? Wow!! Maybe if you guys actually went to a gym, you would find that out. Can you tell me the names of the BJJ coaches? The striking coaches? CSCS coaches? How well decorated and proven are they? Done.
  21. Seibo S
    21. Posted by Seibo S Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:12 pm EDT

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    Fitch, Koscheck, Swick, Le, Shamrock, Diaz, Shields, Josh Thomson, and Melendez all train in the bay area, all these guys are either title holders or top contenders. Beardown, fail.
  22. kobe 4 life
    22. Posted by kobe 4 life Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:20 pm EDT

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    Bear like I said you are an idiot. Like what Seibo says above these guys are all title holders or top contenders maybe you heard of these guys. Bear before you talk, watch mma maybe you will learn something. Could also add Cain Velasquez to that mix as well but since your a wannabe mma fan you wouldnt know about him.
  23. Karl A
    23. Posted by Karl A Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:47 pm EDT

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    ha ha ha....get'em Beardown. Don't let the little posers get to you man. Their bedtime will be here soon and tomorrow they will be back in school.
  24. abdiver12
    24. Posted by abdiver12 Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:44 pm EDT

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    Anthony Johnson vs. the winner of GSP/Alves would be one heck of a fight. Anyone else think Johnson has earned a shot at the title yet? He's had 3 devastating knockouts in his last 3 fights (I won't count the eye-poke loss).
  25. BearDown
    25. Posted by BearDown Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:23 pm EDT

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    Seibo S, kobe 4 life ........... Fitch, Koscheck, Swick, Le, Shamrock, Diaz, Shields, Josh Thomson, and Melendez ????? Title holders in what your mom's basement ?? Both of you G@Y AREA noobs just discredited yourselves. You two can't even come up with where the guys actually train!! Diaz? Stockton's finest? A bit of a way from San Jose isn't it? What a joke you kids are. Seriously! Before I jump on anyone's nuts like you two clowns (BTW- WTF is a kobe 4 life besides a nutrider and Seibo S.....You put too much cilantro in my pico homie. Fix it.) I would like to see Cain actually fight some veteran talent. Gonzaga and Velasquez would be a good fight. Let's look at your fighters: Fitch dominated by GSP, Koscheck worked by Alves, Swick has just one win in how many fights, Le & Shamrock ( I hope your talking about Frank because his brother well, we all know what he is) will they ever fight again? Sheilds & Thomson UFC rejects that were dumped because they couldn't win. Oh, yeah I forgot that Strikeforce has the best MMA talent. I hope Johnson gets out of San Jose before he gets infected by you both. Why don't you cash in your little piggy banks for a bus ticket and visit the camps I talked about before you flap you little c@cksuckers? Wait. I forgot you guys don't even train yet even know who I was talking about!! HaHaHa!! Who's the idiots now? Clowns.

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