UFC Orlando: Michael Johnson gets emotional talking about late teammate Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson at UFC Ontario - "It was just hard to watch"
UFC lightweight veteran Michael Johnson spoke about his late friend Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson in the aftermath of his decision win over Marc Diakiese at UFC Ontario. 'The Menace' was moved while talking about the late heavyweight legend who he had been close to since their days at the now-defunct Blackzilians gym.
Johnson admittedly found it hard to watch 'Rumble' struggle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in his last days. The lightweight veteran is now trying to derive solace from not having to watch his friend suffer any longer. The 36-year-old told the media at UFC Orlando:
"I love him bro. I still love him today. Teammates, you know, brothers, good friends, we were roommates and I had to go out there and win for him. To see a guy lose his life at 38, going through the things he went through over the last year, it was just hard to watch and hard to see. Especially a guy like that. I know we say it a lot when it happens to people but he didn't deserve that."
Johnson added:
"It's good to see he's not suffering the way I watched. If that's the silver lining you can take out of that."
Watch Johnson's comments on 'Rumble' below (2:40):
Michael Johnson put on a striking clinic to earn a unanimous decision win over Marc Diakese at the UFC Orlando Prelims, bouncing back from a controversial split decision loss to Jamie Mullarkey back in July.
Daniel Cormier's tribute to Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson tears fans up
Daniel Cormier recently paid a heartwarming tribute to former opponent Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson. 'DC's' tribute video, which was made in collaboration with ESPN, was played during the UFC Orlando broadcast, filling up several eyes with tears.
Watch the video below:
A fan wrote on Twitter:
"Man that Rumble Johnson tribute got me tearing up 🥲"
Man that Rumble Johnson tribute got me tearing up 🥲
"That Rumble Johnson tribute video by Daniel Cormier had tears in my eyes man"
That Rumble Johnson tribute video by Daniel Cormier had tears in my eyes man
Check out more tweets below:
#UFCORLANDOHey @dc_mma thank you so much for the Rumble Johnson tribute brother♥️😓🙏#UFCORLANDO
Beautiful tribute by the UFC for Anthony "Rumble" Johnson which was voiced by @dc_mma to give it that extra touch. Very classy
#UFCOrlando
That Rumble Johnson tribute…I’m not crying, you’re crying. Absolute legend and badass to watch. #UFCOrlando
Tribute to Rumble Johnson by @dc_mma was world class
That tribute to Rumble Johnson makes my heart hurt man
That Rumble Johnson tribute made me cry
The Rumble Johnson tribute video gave me goosebumps. Rest well champ #rumblejohnson #UFCOrlando
Cormier successfully defended his light heavyweight against Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson for the first time at UFC 187 in 2015 and again at UFC 210 a couple of years later, both times via rear-naked choke submissions.