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Josh Thomson is among the many in the MMA community who've fond memories of the late Anthony Johnson. The former UFC fighter recently passed away; he was only 38.
On his podcast WEIGHING IN, Thomson teared up when reflecting on meeting Johnson for the first time. He mentioned that his athletic achievements weren't what impressed him:
"He was super humble, super nice, he understood I had a big fight coming up, and he just flowed with me. He gave me positions, he took positions away, he worked."
The former Strikeforce lightweight champion was taken aback by 'Rumble's kindness, who went out of his way to help somebody he didn't know very well at the time:
"He opened my eyes a lot to just understanding the importance of, 'Hey, what can I do to repay you? And I wanna thank you so much for spending your Saturday and helping me get ready for something... You're very humble and soft-spoken and I'm loud and obnoxious and brash."
'Rumble' last competed at Bellator 258 in 2021, where he defeated Jose Augusto via knockout in the first round of the light heavyweight Grand Prix. 'Rumble' was scheduled to challenge Vadim Nemkov for the Bellator light heavyweight championship in the semifinals when he withdrew due to his illness.
Check out the full video:
Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson's former opponents react to his death
Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson was one of the most feared knockout artists in MMA during his career. He earned 17 out of his 23 wins via KO/TKO and, in doing so, compiled quite the highlight reel.
During his MMA career, 'Rumble' competed, at one point of time or another, in every weight division upwards of lighweight.
Daniel Cormier, one of Johnson's former opponents, tweeted out a touching tribute to him. 'DC' wrote that 'Rumble' was:
"A caring person. From random text to check-ins during loss. What a person he was, 'Rumble' will be missed."
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira echoed those sentiments by tweeting:
"One of the most scary and tough opponents that I had ever faced, and one of the nicest and most humble humans I have ever met."
