Kevin Bertrand Burns (born March 3, 1980) is a former American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who previously competed in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he has formerly competed for the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Background

Originally from

Glidden, Iowa Glidden is a town in Carroll County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,151 at the time of the 2020 census. History Glidden was laid out as a town in 1866. It was named either for Capt. W. T. Glidden, a railroad promoter, or in honor of ...

, Burns was a talented football player, competing at the collegiate level. Burns later began training in

Tae Kwon Do ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

at the age of 18, before transitioning into

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

, and then finally

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

With only ten months of training, Burns made his amateur MMA debut, defeating

Josh Neer Joshua Martin Neer (born March 24, 1983) is an American bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2003, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, the Quad Cities Silverbacks of the IFL, and Shark Fights. ...

. Burns took a year off after the win but returned when Neer called him out for a rematch. Burns took his first loss in the bout. Four years later, Burns won his professional debut against Demi Deeds. He won his next fight before losing to

Jason High Jason High (born October 12, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Lightweight division of the Professional Fighters League. A professional competitor since 2005, High has also competed for Strikeforce, Aff ...

. The loss did not slow down Burns, as he racked up three more wins. With the wins he earned a four-fight deal with the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

At UFC 85 Burns made his debut for the UFC, earning the upset win over

Roan Carneiro Roan Carneiro Pereira (born 2 June 1978) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2000, Carneiro was ...

. He submitted Roan in the second round and was awarded Submission of the Night. During his fight with Anthony Johnson in UFC: Silva vs. Irvin, he repeatedly poked Johnson in the eyes, for which he received four separate warnings by the referee, Steve Mazzagatti. In the third round, Johnson fell to the ground writhing in pain after an exchange with Burns, and Mazzagatti called the fight to protect Johnson, who was clearly unable to defend himself. Only after seeing the replay from a different camera angle was it seen that the reason for Johnson falling to the ground was due to one of Burns' open handed jabs landing deep into his eye. After some confusion, Steve Mazzagatti stopped the bout. After the fight Johnson appealed the decision as being poked in the eye was a foul, but it was ultimately rejected due to lack of remedy. Burns has claimed that the eye-jabs were not intentional and due to a prior broken hand, which he states forced him to punch with a looser hand. Johnson defeated Burns with a third-round knockout in their rematch at

The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir'' is the eighth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter'', which went into production in late May 2008 and premiered on ...

. Burns was defeated by

Chris Lytle Chris Scott Lytle (born August 18, 1974) is a retired American mixed martial artist and boxer. An MMA professional from 1999 until 2011 and 20-fight veteran of the UFC, Lytle also fought in Pancrase, Cage Rage, and the WEC. He held the inaug ...

via unanimous decision in a back and forth war at ''

The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale ''The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom'' is the ninth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. It began production in January 2009, and began airing on ...

''. The fight did prove to be positive as Burns was given an extra $25,000 for earning Fight of the Night. Burns lost to

T. J. Grant T is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet. (For the same letterform in the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, see Te (Cyrillic), Te and Tau respectively). T may also refer to: Codes and units * T, Tera- as in one trillion * T, the symbol for ...

via first round TKO at

UFC 107 ''UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez '' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on December 12, 2009 in Memphis, Tennessee at the FedExForum. Background On October 21, it was announced that a previous matchup betwe ...

. After losing three straight bouts, Burns was released from the UFC.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 12–7 , James Wood , Decision (unanimous) , VFC 38: Roberts vs. Arocho , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Ralston, Nebraska Ralston is a city in Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 6,494 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Omaha, Ralston is surrounded on three sides by the city of Omaha by 84th, 72nd, and L Streets, and by Sarpy County (Harrison S ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12-6 , Mark Stoddard , Submission (shoulder choke) , MCC 43: High Octane , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:52 ,

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–6 , Mason Temiquel , Submission (rear-naked choke) , MCC 42: Lund vs. Schmauss , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:16 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–6 ,

Tom Speer Thomas Speer (born August 20, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2005 until 2013, he received national exposure on '' The Ultimate Fighter 6: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra'', fighting as a member of Tea ...

, Decision (split) , Brutaal: Fight Night , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Tama, Iowa Tama is a city in Tama County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,130 at the time of the 2020 census. Tama is situated two miles south of Toledo, the county seat. The two towns are close enough to have nearly grown together over the year ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–5 , Eddie Larrea , Submission (rear-naked choke) , MCC 37: Thanksgiving Throwdown , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:09 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–5 , Koffi Adzitso , KO (punches) , ZarMMA: Fight Night , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:54 ,

Layton, Utah Layton is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 81,773, with 2022 estimates showing a slight increase to 84,665. Layto ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–4 , Kalel Robinson , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , MCC 28: Impact , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:18 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–4 , Sean Huffman , Decision (unanimous) , MCC 25: Inferno , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–4 ,

, TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:57 ,

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–3 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–2 , Anthony Johnson , KO (head kick) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:28 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7-1 , Anthony Johnson , TKO (eye poke) , UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:35 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 ,

, Submission (triangle choke) , UFC 85 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:53 ,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 ,

Bobby Voelker Robert "Bobby" James Voelker (born April 26, 1979) is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in their Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, Voelker has formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator MMA, Strikef ...

, KO (punch) , VFC 23: Validation , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:30 ,

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Steve Schneider , Submission (triangle choke) , GFC 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:13 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Sean Westbrook , Submission (rear-naked choke) , GFC 1: Genesis , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:22 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 ,

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , VFC 18: Hitmen , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Matt Delanoit , Submission (armbar) , VFC 17: Predators , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:29 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Demi Deeds , TKO (punches) , Greensparks: Full Contact Fighting 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:58 ,

Clive, Iowa Clive is a city in Dallas and Polk counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 18,601. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clive is known for its Greenbelt Park and ...

, United States ,

References

External links

*
UFC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Kevin Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Iowa Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American male taekwondo practitioners 1980 births People from Carroll, Iowa Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters