Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns: Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale

Up Next: Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns
Lytle is durable, well-rounded, and can make good fighters look ineffective, but I’m not entirely convinced there’s a lot of suspense to his career. He can’t beat anyone on a high level, and if he hasn’t “peaked” in the ten years he’s been competing, it’s not likely to happen now. He’ll beat Burns, but whether that means anything is open to debate.

Round 1
Lytle and Burns box. When Burns breaks the pace by throwing a kick, it lands low. Burns buckles Lytle's knees and tries to go in for the kill. Burns really turns it on in the closing moments; Lytle stumbles backward, inebriated.

Round 2
60 seconds can really do wonders for a guy: Lytle opens by backing Burns up and shows little sign of trauma from the earlier flurry. Goldberg babbles some preamble about Lytle being a firefighter and Burns nicknamed "the Fire" and I know where it's going so I stick gauze in my ears. Burns punts him in the yams again. And a third time. Herb Dean has to seriously consider deducting a point. He doesn't.

Round 3
Rashad Evans is spotted in the crowd, and appears to have recovered physically -- if not emotionally -- from being karate's heavy bag.

Burns has been sliced open. Judges, sociopaths all, will be swayed. Lytle comes forward. Burns is tired, bleeding, and locked in a cage with an angry man who will get money for hurting him. This is when a career in fighting begins to suck. Burns makes it to the end, though.

Decision:
29-28 for Lytle. "The firefighter has put out the fire," Goldberg says. Argh. Dana White mentions Vitor Belfort could be headed to the UFC to face Anderson Silva. Belfort's 8/1 fight with Jorge Santiago could euthanize that idea in a hurry.