Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson was one of the hardest hitters in the UFC. He was also one of the most soft-spoken among the promotion’s roster, especially at a time where figures like Conor McGregor and Jon Jones ruled the sport. While he never won a title, he was involved in some of the most exciting bouts in the promotion’s history. UFC color commentator Joe Rogan and his guests on his podcast recently recalled the former UFC star’s time as a fighter and the strange reason behind his untimely passing.

Much like Jared Cannonier, there have been few fighters who’ve made drastic moves from one weight class to the other, and Anthony Johnson was one of them. From a welterweight, he went on to fight at heavyweight as well, and even competed for the light heavyweight title twice. Joe Rogan recently mentioned bumping into Johnson at a hotel back in the day and his sheer size made the 57-year-old question how ‘Rumble’ was able to compete in lower weight classes.

During the recent JRE Fight Companion episode, Joe Rogan said, “Bro, he was so big, I ran into him in a hotel once. I’m like, ‘How the f— were you ever 170?… His shoulders were as wide as a bard.”

When Rogan brought up Anthony Johnson’s name, Bryan Callen—one of the guests on the show alongside Brendan Schaub and the legendary Matt Serra—wanted to know the reason behind ‘Rumble’s death. However, the podcast host didn’t seem to be sure about it. “I don’t know [how Johnson died]. He had some sort of organ failure,” the 57-year-old added. Schaub added that Johnson’s death was nothing less than a “tragic” incident.

Anthony Johnson had hinted that he had some health concerns after his loss to Daniel Cormier back in 2017, which was also his last UFC fight. But what were his health concerns? Well, let’s take a look at that front.

Details on Anthony Johnson’s untimely passing

Anthony Johnson left the world at 38 years old, with a lot of fights left in him. But by the time the news of his deteriorating health came to the fore, the former UFC star was already bedridden for over a year. At that time, Johnson was signed with Bellator but fought under that banner on just one occasion, which he won via KO, nonetheless.

Anthony Johnson mentioned in 2021 that he had been dealing with health issues, and since it was during the pandemic, he made sure to tell his fans that it was “not Covid.” But the sad news struck the MMA community in November 2022 when the former UFC star was pronounced dead. But how? Well, Joe Rogan was partly right about the organ failure. But to be more precise, ‘Rumble’ suffered from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is a type of cancer that affects a person’s immune system, or the lymphatic system, to be exact.

Anthony Johnson had built such a legacy for himself, not only because he was one of the scariest fighters ever but also because of his caring nature. From his beautiful exchanges with former rivals like Jon Jones to his heartwarming smile – he had a lot of fans and admirers. Let us know what was your most memorable moment involving Johnson in his MMA career.