Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson, a Bellator fighter and two-time UFC title challenger, dies at 38 after a yearlong illness.
Anthony "Rumble" Johnson, former MMA fighter, died at 38 after battling a yearlong illness, a Bellator MMA spokesperson told Associated Press on November 13.
Bellator MMA also announced his death in social media saying, "The BELLATOR family is devastated by his untimely passing and we send our condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time.”
Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports reported that the “cause of death was organ failure due to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a rare disorder of the immune system."
Johnson had disclosed an illness in September of 2021, posting on Instagram about needing as many prayers as he can get for a battle he is in but specified that it was not COVID-19 related.
A few months after, Johnson posted again on Instagram after getting good news from his doctor, saying there were "big improvements."
However, ESPN reported in October 2022 that Johnson’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, contacted them and relayed that the MMA fighter was currently "going through some health problems right now .. he's not doing well."
"Very sad. I want everybody to pray for him. Pray for Anthony; he's not doing well. He's very strong, spiritually, but pray for him,” Abdelaziz added.
Johnson's career with UFC spanned for a decade in two separate stints from 2007-2012 as an emerging welterweight and in 2014-2017 as a light heavyweight.
In his 10-year stint, Johnson put up a 23-6 overall record as a professional fighter, with 17 of his 23 wins coming via knockout or TKO, and was 13-6 in a 10-year run in the UFC.
During his second run at the UFC, he became a household name after defeating the likes of Glover Teixeira, Ryan Bader, Alexander Gustafsson, and Phil Davis, making it into two light heavyweight championships according to SBNation.
Tags: #MMA, #UFC, #death