What is former UFC fighter Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson’s cause of death?
With the sad news that Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has passed away, we look at what has taken him from us at only 38 years old
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson was a fighter. The Dublin, Georgia boy was so proficient at wrestling that it won him a scholarship to Lassens College in California, before bringing him international acclaim.
After school, he got into mixed martial arts and entered the UFC, knocking out his first opponent in only 13 seconds. This led on to a career in both UFC and Bellator MMA, where he competed at welterweight, middleweight, and light-heavyweight. Known as a fearsome puncher, he won 17 of his 23 MMA fights by knockout. He twice challenged for the UFC light-heavyweight title, losing both times to Daniel Cormier.
Retiring from MMA, he set up a CBD oil business before coming out of retirement for one last fight, against José Augusto Azevedo Barros, who he knocked out in the second round.
He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma last year and after a fearsome struggle, passed away. The official cause of death was multiple organ failure due to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, which is a rare disorder of the immune system. Johnson was 38 years old.
“He was always a great kid,” said UFC president Dana White. “He was always in fun fights and he had that one-punch KO power that not many people ever had. He was a good human being. I send my condolences to his family.”
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a disorder of the lymphatic system and is generally a treatable form of cancer. In non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, lymph node cells multiply uncontrollably and then invade other bodily tissues. Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis is a rare disorder of the immune system that primarily affects infants and children.
An engaging and soft-spoken man who was a private person and liked to keep things to himself, Johnson never made his illness public. As such, news of his death is shocking to many of his fans worldwide.
One of his closest friends was former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who said of Rumble, “He didn’t want to be treated differently. He didn’t want people seeing him losing all this weight and going through these situations and treat him differently because of what was going on.”
Daniel Cormier tweeted out his condolences saying, “For a guy who struck fear in so many peoples heart Anthony Johnson was a caring person.”
MMA referee John McCarthy added to that sentiment, writing that “AJ was one of the good guys. He was a great man with a huge heart.”
Sleep well, gentle prince.