Joe Rogan and Sean O'Malley celebrate the career of late Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson
Joe Rogan and Sean O'Malley recently celebrated the achievements and the career of the late Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson.
O'Malley was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where the two reflected on some of Johnson's most memorable performances inside the octagon. The UFC color commentator discussed 'Rumble's power when he committed to the light heavyweight division, which was a more natural weight for him:
"Bro, he fu**ked everybody up except 'DC' [Daniel Cormier]. 'DC' just used his wrestling... He's so dangerous. 'Rumble's so dangerous. He was so dangerous, he had power that I remember when he [knocked out] Glover [Teixeira]... God damn, he was a powerhouse."
While reflecting on his passing, O'Malley chimed in and shared what his experience was like with the former light heavyweight title challenger:
"I did the UFC Quintet with him. It was me, Clay Guida, him, Gilbert Burns, Anthony Smith, but yeah that was like my only really interaction with him. F***ng good dude."
Rogan told 'Sugar' that he believes if Johnson had been more consistent with managing his weight-cutting, he could have been much more successful than he already was:
"He was kind of at least early on in his career, inconsistent until he moved up in weight. Then when he moved up in weight, look what he did in the light heavyweight division. I maintain that most of what was holding him back was just the dread of making that weight...Imagine that, inside of his career, he's fighting 35lbs up and destroying people."
On November 13, Johnson passed away at 38 years old after a battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. His last fight took place at Bellator 258, where he defeated Jose Augusto via second-round knockout in the opening round of the Bellator light heavyweight Grand Prix.
Joe Rogan was shocked that Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson fought at welterweight
#OnThisDay in 2008: If you thought @Anthony_Rumble was scary at light heavyweight, you should have seen him at welterweight! 😳
📽 bit.ly/2z3LY9i https://t.co/QlUaiRcS1H
While speaking with Sean O'Malley on his JRE show, Joe Rogan recalled being shocked after seeing the late Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson while he wasn't in-between fights.
Based on his size and how he performed at 205 lbs, it's almost unbelievable to think that he began his UFC career competing at welterweight. He had some trouble making 170 lbs at times, which hindered his performance. But when he fought at light heavyweight, he was one of the most dominant fighters in the UFC.
Joe Rogan even described Johnson's size when he was an active welterweight fighter:
"Dude, I saw him in-between fights once and I go, 'Anthony, how big are you?' And he goes, '230 lbs.' Dude, he walked in looking like a Greek God, he was so gigantic."
'Rumble' wasn't able to capture the UFC light heavyweight championship as he lost to then-champion Daniel Cormier twice. In addition, his scheduled bout with Jon Jones remains the biggest what-if of his career as he had the skillset and power to threaten Jones' reign.