Anthony Rumble Johnson

Some Lesser Known Facts About Anthony Rumble Johnson

• Anthony Rumble Johnson was an American mixed martial artist, who fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), an American MMA promotion company based in Las Vegas, for most of his career. He mainly fought in the light heavyweight division. Post his retirement from mixed martial arts in 2017, he returned to the sport in 2021 under the Bellator MMA banner.

• When he was two years old, he was formally adopted by his grandparents.

• Good at wrestling since his school days, Anthony got enrolled in Lassen College in Susanville, California, on a wrestling scholarship.

• While in college, he was a junior college national wrestling champion.

• After completing his graduation, Johnson worked as a bouncer for some time.

• He stepped into mixed martial arts at the age of 20 at a suggestion of a friend.

• In his debut UFC fight against Chad Reiner at UFC Fight Night 10, Anthony knocked out Reiner in just 13 seconds of the first round; he fought the match on short notice as he replaced Steve Bruno, who had torn his rotator cuff, in the match.

• He registered several remarkable victories including a 13-second finish of former UFC champ Glover Teixeira, as well as wins over Alexander Gustafsson, Phil Davis, Andrei Arlovski and Dan Hardy.

• Post quitting Ultimate Fighting Championship and retiring from the sport in 2017, Anthony returned to the sport in 2021 by signing a multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA in December 2020.

• In May 2021, he fought his last match at Bellator 258, winning over José Augusto Azevedo via a knockout.

• Anthony died on 13 November 2022 from organ failure due to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a rare disorder of the immune system.