THE CANADIAN PRESS
Kevin Burns can help your bottom line and whip your butt. He is one bad-ass banker.
Burns, who works at Wells Fargo bank in Des Moines, Iowa, made the most of his UFC debut June 7 by taking down Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Roan Carneiro at UFC 85 in London, tying him up in a triangle choke while punishing him with elbows from below. UFC matchmaker Joe Silva called it the upset of the year.
It was all the more impressive in that Burns — who as a blue belt in jiu-jitsu has to graduate to purple and brown before nearing a black belt — took the fight on nine days notice.
Now Burns is back, looking to show welterweight Anthony (Rumble) Johnson on Saturday night that the win over Carneiro was no fluke. He knows that’s the view of some, that Carneiro overlooked him.
“A lot of people have a lot of things to say,” said Burns (7-1). “I knew what I wanted to do when I went into that fight, and I was able to come out on top.
“I try to stay focused and I don’t like to listen to a lot of the stuff. … I’m there to do what I need to do. And all the rest is just noise.”
The fight is on the undercard of the Anderson Silva-James (The Sandman) Irvin main event on a televised card (Rogers Sportsnet, 9 p.m. ET) designed to take some of the spotlight off Affliction’s debut show (available on pay-per-view) the same night in Anaheim, Calif.
As of July 1, Burns cut back on his day job at the bank to focus on fight training. His paycheque has been reduced accordingly “but I feel it’s worth it.”
“I took a long hard look at it with my wife and said You know, I can only really fight for a few years. I can always go back to work.”‘
His win at UFC 85 — helped by a US$50,000 bonus for submission of the night — allowed him to pay off some debts to make the move a little easier. Burns took care of his student loans and “a good chunk” of his wife’s loans. He was also able to rip up the five-year loan agreement and pay for the 2008 Ford Edge he had just bought for his wife.
At the bank, he teaches others on how to work as a leasing rep, selling financing to the likes of copier and phone vendors. He hopes to fight full time in the future, but for now he juggles both.
Despite the changes in his life since the Carneiro win, Burns says he is approaching this bout the same way as the last.
“A fight’s a fight, whether it’s front of five million people on national TV or six to eight thousand people in a local venue. I’m still stepping into that cage to do what I’ve trained to do.”
But he knows that he is no longer a surprise package and that opponents won’t underestimate him.
Johnson has turned heads with his punching power in the UFC but he also has an extensive wrestling background.
“The exact opposite opponent to Roan Carneiro,” said Burns.
“Anthony Johnson is extremely explosive. I think if he has it his way, he would like to stand and trade, more in a brawling-type situation, and strike more than he would go to the ground. Styles make fights and I think it’s going to shape up for a pretty interesting fight for the fans, I really do.”
Burns says he is willing to stand with Johnson, but is confident wherever it goes.
“I honestly see myself winning the fight whether it’s on my feet or on the ground.”
Johnson, for his part, calls Burns a tough opponent but says he sees some holes in his game.
Burns spent one year as a defensive back at the University of South Dakota before injuring his shoulder. Deciding a future in pro football looked slim — “I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy. I’m in or not” — he concentrated on his schooling, leaving South Dakota to go to Simpson, a small college in central Iowa.
He was planning to get into computers but ended up at Wells Fargo, where he has worked for close to eight years. It’s business casual most days, but jacket and tie if he’s visiting clients.
Burns’ journey into mixed martial arts was slow and patient — “a three-year selling process to my wife.”
He had two amateur bouts against Josh (The Dentist) Neer, winning one and losing one. The win was an 11-second knockout, the loss was a three-round beating.
Burns was pretty raw, having only done some taekwondo. So he started jiu-jitsu and other training, going six days a week while working full time at the bank and working on his dubious wife to let him try his hand as a professional.
“It took really three years which was probably a blessing in disguise, because I was able to get a really solid ground base of skills in jiu-jitsu and wrestling, to match up the striking skills that I had.
“To quiet the noise, she said You can do it just this once.”‘
He started calling promoters the next day and one day later had a fight lined up.
Burns made his pro debut in August 2006 with wife Cindy crying in the front row. A nervous Burns soon found himself on his back “taking significant punishment.” While his wife buried her head in her hands, Burns got back up and scored a TKO win.
“Afterwards she was like Oh, I’m so glad it’s over.’ I said Honey, I’m not done,”‘ Burns recalled with a laugh.
He won her over fight by fight, educating her about the sport en route. Now she supports him 100 per cent.
Johnson (5-1) has scored impressive KOs in two of his three UFC fights, sandwiching wins over Tommy Speer (51 second) and Chad Reiner (13 seconds) around a submission loss to Rich Clementi at UFC 76. He took the Clementi fight on short notice, failing to make the 170-pound limit when faced with losing 33 pounds in a week.
“I was so weak, it was bad. It was really bad,” he recalled.
They eventually fought at a catchweight of 177.
The 24-year-old Johnson, a native of Dublin, Ga., who now trains out of San Jose, turned to MMA after wrestling in college. He now fights full time.
NOTES: Welterweight James Giboo, one of Burns’ training partners, is making his UFC debut on Saturday’s card. He faces Brad Blackburn. … UFC 90 has been set for Chicago on Oct. 25 at the Allstate Arena. … World Extreme Cagefighting middleweight champion Paulo Filho returns to action Sept. 10 in Hollywood, Fla., against Chael Sonnen. Filho’s career was put on hold for a stay in a rebah centre. Also on the card, Urijah Faber defends his featherweight title against Mike Brown.
