Mike Chiappetta • E-mail

No one wanted it to end the way it did, but when Kevin Burns unintentionally eye-poked Anthony Johnson during a July UFC bout, it led to a chain of events that would inevitably lead to a rematch.

The first issue was that the fight was ruled a TKO win for Burns when many thought it should be declared a no contest. The second was that the damage to Johnson's eye was so bad, it required surgery. And lastly, no one left the arena happy that night, Burns included.

So after nearly five months, a healed eye for Johnson and a healed hand for Burns, the two will do it all over again on Dec. 13's UFC card.

From the beginning, the finish did not sit well with Burns. An injury to his left hand made it impossible for him to strike with a closed fist, so he had resorted to palm strikes, a la Bas Rutten. With time running out in the third, Burns threw a strike with his left hand. His extended fingers raked across Johnson's open right eye. Johnson immediately dropped to the mat, and an end was called to the fight. When Burns was declared the winner, the fans — who had already seen the cringe-worthy replay — booed.

"I was extremely upset, to be honest," Burns said of his initial reaction. "Both of us put forth a lot of effort, and to get that reaction, it was like, we fought a great fight and it shouldn't end like that. It didn't resonate with me. I was really disappointed and that's why I lobbied so hard from the get-go to make the rematch happen."

Afterward, Johnson's management appealed the fight ruling, but the motion was denied. Johnson, to his credit, has said he has no ill will regarding the incident.

Burns said he was impressed with Johnson's reaction, calling it classy.

"He could've handled it a lot differently, but I think he knows we were both doing a job, trying to do the best we could. He was impressive, and I commend him for it."

That said, both are looking forward to determining the better man in a fair way. After fighting almost three full rounds, both athletes got a true taste of each other, but Burns believes that because he was fighting at less than 100 percent, Johnson has more to prepare for.

He said he's broken his left hand three times in the last two years, most recently in Nov. 2007. The hand wasn't fully healed when he made his UFC debut in June against Roan Carneiro nor when he fought Johnson six weeks later. He notes that he was always able to work around it in the past, and passed his pre-fight physicals.

Next time around, it will be a non-factor.

"My hand is healed and I'm really, really, really excited to use it," he says. "You have no idea. When I fought him, I had no uppercut, no left hook, no left jab. I threw a lot of really heavy rights. He's going to be shocked when he gets hit with jab."

Johnson won the first two rounds largely on the strength of his takedown ability, but Burns said a renewed emphasis on his wrestling and ground game should neutralize that this go-around. But he noted that because Johnson has gained some renown as a powerful striker, he hopes to go toe-to-toe with the prospect.

"Unless he decides he wants to take me down, I'll stand and bang with him," said Burns. "He's said in the past that he hates the ground. If that's the case, let's see who takes who down. I'm guessing he stands with me, I press him with a crazy pace, and he starts to get tired and tries for the takedown."

Burns notes that in his first fight with Johnson, he was actually competing for the third time in 10 weeks (he also won a regional fight in May just four weeks before his UFC debut), and says his body was beaten down from all the training, which took place whenever he had free time from his full-time job.

Now, rested, healed and more focused on fighting (he's scaled back to part-time at Wells-Fargo), he promises a faster pace and an unlimited fuel tank.

The two fighters came to prominence in different ways.

Burns made his debut against Carneiro. Though only a jiu-jitsu blue belt at the time, Burns tapped out the decorated black belt Carneiro.

Since then, Burns says his jiu-jitsu has grown markedly under the tutelage of Ricky Lundell, a decorated grappler who is believed to be the youngest-ever American to receive a Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt, a designation he reached at just 19 years old.

Johnson has earned a buzz in the MMA world for a couple of bigtime knockouts. In his June 2007 debut, he needed just 13 seconds to KO Chad Reiner. Then in his third fight, he crumpled Tommy Speer in just 51 seconds.

In their first encounter, Burns said he never felt overmatched by what Johnson delivered.

"I give him all the respect in the world, but I never felt I was overwhelmed," he says. "I took his best shots. I have a decent chin, I guess. It wasn't more than I felt from anyone else. At that level, they all hit hard. I didn't feel he had some crazy, barbaric punching power. He hit hard; don't get me wrong. It didn't feel good in any way, shape or form, but it didn't feel like 'Wow, this guy hits really hard.' It's not like a heavyweight hitting me. It wasn't any more powerful than others I've experienced in the past."

Whether the fight stays standing or hits the ground, Burns will be at 100 percent, and this time, there should be a clear winner and loser, which is just the way they both want it.

"We had to do it again," he said. "That's why we wanted the rematch, to make it right for the fighters, and for the fans."