Watch: UFC pays touching tribute to Anthony Johnson during UFC Vegas 65 broadcast
During UFC Vegas 65, the UFC played a video montage paying an emotional tribute to former UFC fighter Anthony Johnson.
On November 13th, 'Rumble' passed away at the age of 38 after a long battle with medical issues.
The UFC paid their respects to the knockout artist by playing a compilation of Johnson's best moments in the UFC during the broadcast of UFC Fight Night 215.
You can watch the video tribute below:
We pay tribute to Anthony "Rumble" Johnson ❤️ https://t.co/E2obbW7FwF
After news broke of his demise, former multi-division champion Daniel Cormier also posted a tweet, paying his respects to 'Rumble'.
“Rest Easy my brother. For a guy who struck fear in so many peoples heart Anthony Johnson was a caring person. From random text to check ins during loss. What a person he was, Rumble will be missed. Sometimes life doesn’t seem fair. Horrible news #RIP #Rumblesquad @Anthony_Rumble”
Rest Easy my brother. For a guy who struck fear in so many peoples heart Anthony Johnson was a caring person. From random text to check ins during loss. What a person he was, Rumble will be missed. Sometimes life doesn’t seem fair. Horrible news #RIP #Rumblesquad @Anthony_Rumble https://t.co/HH2SO1dPj7
Johnson and Cormier shared the octagon on two different occasions and both times, the UFC light heavyweight championship was on the line.
Their first encounter took place at UFC 187. Cormier emerged victorious that night with a rear-naked choke in the third round.
'Rumble' bounced back from the loss and scored three back-to-back knockouts to earn another shot at the title.
But not much changed in Johnson's second showdown against 'DC' at UFC 210. Once again, Cormier submitted 'Rumble' to retain the light heavyweight title.
Dana White shares his thoughts on Anthony Johnson's demise
UFC president Dana White also paid his condolences to the friends and family of Anthony Johnson.
In an article by Kevin Iole for Yahoo! Sports, White praised 'Rumble' as a fighter and a human being. White also complimented his knockout power while paying his condolences.
"He was always a great kid. He was always in fun fights and he had that one-punch KO power that not many people ever had. He was a good human being. I send my condolences to his family."
Johnson had 19 fights in the UFC and was victorious in 13 of them. 'Rumble's UFC career was full of highlight-reel worthy knockouts. The Georgia native had delivered spectacular knockouts against the likes of Glover Teizeira, Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader, Alexander Gustafsson and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.