Former MMA fighter Anthony “Rumble” Johnson died on Sunday after a yearlong illness. Check out Anthony Johnson last post before death.
Anthony Johnson : Last post | Sad post | illness
Anthony Kewoa Johnson was born in Dublin, Georgia. He was raised by his grandparents who formally adopted him at age 2.
Early in life, his heroes were his grandfather and the football player Walter Payton.
He went to West Laurens High School and then attended Lassen College in Susanville, California on a wrestling scholarship, and became a junior college national wrestling champion.
After college, he worked as a bouncer and entered mixed martial arts at age 20, after a friend suggested it due to his wrestling background.
Anthony Johnson last post
In response to Helwani’s tweet, a user pointed out Johnson’s heartbreaking post from 2021 where he spoke about his scary illness.
“Really wish I could go into detail about how ill I truly am. Just know I need as many prayers as I can get and I’ll see you in 2022 God willing,” Johnson wrote.
“Never been this afraid of anything in my life but I’ve remained strong with the support of friends and family.”
Johnson’s cause of death was organ failure due to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.
Bellator president Scott Coker spoke in January with MMAJunkie about Johnson’s return timeline and how it would be dictated by his health battle.
“Without getting too much into his medical condition, he’s got to worry just about being healthy first,” Coker said.
“He’s got to heal up and get healthy because there’s so much more in life than just fighting. I want him to have a long, healthy life, and that’s the most important thing.”
Tributes poured in from all over the mixed martial arts world after news of Johnson’s passing with fighters left heartbroken.
Anthony Johnson sad post
Former UFC light-heavyweight title contender Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson has died at the age of 38 following a lengthy battle with an unspecified illness.
The ex-fighter was due to fight for the Bellator light-heavyweight title in September 2021 but pulled out due to a health issue.
It was confirmed Saturday evening that the UFC star had lost his battle with the illness.
‘Rumble, he’s going through some health problems right now. It’s very sad,’ Abdelaziz said during an ESPN interview in October. ‘I think, I want everybody to pray for him. Pray for Anthony. It’s not going well. He’s very strong, spiritually. But pray for him.’
Although he never specified what the illness was, ‘Rumble’ opened up on the situation, explaining how he was sick to fans on social media.
His post read: ‘Really wish I could go into detail about how ill I truly am. Just know I need as many prayers as I can get and I’ll see you in 2022 God willing. Never been this afraid of anything in my life but I’ve remained strong with the support of friends and family.’
Johnson challenged for the light-heavyweight belt in the UFC on two occasions, both times losing to all-time great Daniel Cormier.
They first met in 2015 at UFC 187 after Jon Jones was forced out, before a rematch at UFC 210 in April 2017 with Cormier winning both by submission.
Illness
According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, “the cause of death was organ failure due to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, which is a rare disorder of the immune system.”
Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), also known as haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (British spelling), and hemophagocytic or haemophagocytic syndrome, is an uncommon hematologic disorder seen more often in children than in adults.
It is a life-threatening disease of severe hyperinflammation caused by uncontrolled proliferation of activated lymphocytes and macrophages, characterised by proliferation of morphologically benign lymphocytes and macrophages that secrete high amounts of inflammatory cytokines. It is classified as one of the cytokine storm syndromes.
There are inherited and non-inherited (acquired) causes of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH).
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredness.
Other symptoms may include bone pain, chest pain, or itchiness. Some forms are slow-growing while others are fast-growing.