Mikey Burnett

Mikey Burnett
Born	Michael Wayne Burnett April 12, 1974 (1974-04-12) (age 37) Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Other names	The Eastside Assassin
Nationality	American
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight	170 lb (77 kg; 12 st)
Division	Welterweight
Style	Wrestling
Fighting out of	Tulsa, Oklahoma
Team	Lion's Den
Professional boxing record
Total	1
Wins	1
Losses	0
Draws	0
Mixed martial arts record
Total	7
Wins	5
By knockout	1
By submission	2
By decision	2
Losses	2
By knockout	1
By decision	1
Other information
Boxing record from Boxrec

Michael Wayne Burnett (born April 12, 1974) is a former American mixed martial artist who was a member of the legendary fight team the Lion's Den. Burnett lost a very controversial decision to Pat Miletich in a UFC title fight for the UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC Ultimate Brazil crowning Miletich the first-ever holder of the UFC Welterweight belt.

Biography

Burnett was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and graduated from Nathan Hale High School in 1991. He wrestled for three years in college. Burnett was also an amateur Golden Gloves boxing champion in his home state of Oklahoma. He formerly owned and operated Mikey's Gym in East Tulsa. Burnett was the lead MMA and grappling instructor at Apollo's Karate

Mixed martial arts career

Burnett made his professional MMA debut on April 20, 1996, competing at the third and final Oklahoma Free Fight Federation tournament in Tulsa. Burnett defeated Todd Justice and Tony Hays only to eventually lose to Kevin Nix in the final round of the tournament. Shortly after this, Burnett began to train with Ken Shamrock's Lion's Den in Susanville, California. Burnett's next fight would not take place until the following year at the inaugural World Pankration Championships where Burnett submitted Mike Hipp with a heel hook.

Burnett's success attracted the attention of the UFC, who invited Burnett to fight in their organization. Burnett made his victorious UFC debut at UFC 16, stopping Eugenio Tadeu with strikes in the first round. This fight was nominated by the UFC to appear on the UFC's Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights.

Burnett's impressive performance earned him a title shot against Pat Miletich to determine the first-ever UFC Welterweight Champion. Burnett lost a very controversial decision to Miletich at UFC Ultimate Brazil in a fight that many fans to this day state that Burnett won. Burnett returned at UFC 18 where he won a unanimous decision over Olympic silver medalist Townsend Saunders. Burnett dominated the fight on his feet with his striking and was very impressive because the Olympic silver medal winning wrestler Saunders was unable to take Burnett down.

Burnett would leave the Lion's Den later in 1998 to go back to Oklahoma when he found out he was having a child.^[1] Burnett started his own training facility, with brother and trainer Scott Burnett, in East Tulsa called Mikey's Gym. He also began to teach and instruct at various other gyms in the city and surrounding area for the next several years.

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 4

After a seven year hiatus from fighting, Burnett was contacted by UFC President Dana White in 2006 about being on the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show. Burnett gladly accepted and travelled to Las Vegas for the taping.

Burnett ended up on Team No Love as a member of the welterweight fighters on the show. Burnett ended up breaking his neck during a training session on the show (contrary to popular opinion that Burnett broke it attempting to run through a wall; this is claimed by Burnett to be false.)^[2] Burnett was selected to take on Din Thomas in the fifth show of the season. Burnett ended up fighting Thomas with a broken neck. Thomas submitted Burnett with a triangle choke in the first round of the fight. Burnett attempts to run through a wall during the 11th show of the season and ends up denting it. On the final episode, Burnett is informed by a doctor that he required major surgery on his neck before he will be able to continue fighting. Burnett opted to undergo the surgery, which would put him out of action for at least one year. However, Burnett had problems with the insurance company and could not get the surgery done. Burnett later filed suit against the show to help pay for his surgery, but has been unsuccessful in getting the surgery completed.^[3]

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
7 matches	5 wins	2 losses
By knockout	1	1
By submission	2	0
By decision	2	1

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Win	5-2	Townsend Saunders	Decision (unanimous)	UFC 18	01999-01-08 January 8, 1999	1	15:00	Louisiana, United States
Loss	4-2	Pat Miletich	Decision (split)	UFC Brazil	01998-10-16 October 16, 1998	1	21:00	São Paulo, Brazil	For UFC Welterweight Championship
Win	4-1	Eugenio Tadeu	TKO (strikes)	UFC 16	01998-03-13 March 13, 1998	1	9:45	Louisiana, United States
Win	3-1	Mike Hipp	Submission (heel hook)	WPC - World Pankration Championships 1	01997-10-26 October 26, 1997	1	0:30	Texas, United States
Loss	2-1	Kevin Nix	TKO (guillotine choke)	OFFF 3 - Oklahoma Free Fight Federation 3	01996-04-20 April 20, 1996	3	2:38	Oklahoma, United States
Win	2-0	Tony Hays	Submission (rear naked choke)	OFFF 3 - Oklahoma Free Fight Federation 3	01996-04-20 April 20, 1996	1	0:33	Oklahoma, United States
Win	1-0	Todd Justice	Decision (unanimous)	OFFF 3 - Oklahoma Free Fight Federation 3	01996-04-20 April 20, 1996	3	3:00	Oklahoma, United States

References

1. ^ http://www.mmamemories.com/2009/03/24/talkin-mma-with-mikey-burnett.html
2. ^ Carson's Corner Interview: Eric Nyenhuis
3. ^ http://www.cagepotato.com/2008/07/03/mikey-burnett-sues-the-ultimate-fighter/

External links

• Professional MMA record for Mikey Burnett from Sherdog

Persondata
Name	Burnett, Mikey
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 12, 1974
Place of birth	Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Date of death
Place of death