Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Exclusive Interview with Anthony "Rumble" Johnson




Anthony "Rumble" Johnson is a UFC welterweight fighter with a professional record of 4-1. He currently is in Colorado training hard for his fight against Tommy Speer on April 2 which will be a part of Ultimate Fight Night on Spike TV. Rumble is one of the most exciting and talented fighters in the UFC today.

He is also one of the better fighters out there that you may not have seen fight. In his UFC debut, he knocked out Chad Reiner in 13 seconds. The best is yet to come for Rumble as this upcoming fight with Speer will be his first fight in the UFC with advanced notice. Check out this interview as Rumble talks about his training, his love for pitbulls, and how he liked training with Ken Shamrock.


Hey AJ, how's everything with you lately?
Everything is great. Thanks for asking.

How's your training going along for your fight with Tommy?
It's going great. I'm in good shape already. I'm ready to get it on and bang!

Where are you training at?
I'm training mostly at Grappler's Edge so big ups to that whole squad. Other than that, I just go from gym to gym getting a different look from each one.

What is your entrance music when you walk to the Octagon?
I really don't have any yet but my brother-in-law is into the music business and works with Young Jeezy and D4L so he's gonna hook me up with a beat from the guys who make their music.

How did you get your nickname "Rumble"?
I was sitting around bored one day and was thinking of a name that would fit me. They have "Cabbage", "Rampage", "Shogun", and "Ninja" so why can't we have a "Rumble"(laughs).

Your fight with Tommy will be the first fight in the UFC for you where you have had advanced notice and will have adequate time to train and properly cut weight. I think this will be a huge difference for you. What do you think?
Yes there will be a huge difference. I'm in good shape now and working very hard so this time there will be a Rumble that wants to bang even more.

In your fight with Rich Clementi, you were winning the fight and doing great until you gassed and had no energy left due to cutting 30 pounds in a week. It appeared that you lost one of your contacts during the fight. Did that affect you in any way with your loss of vision?
The only thing that affected me was the weight lost. Rich beat me so I have no excuses.

When you are not training, what do you like to do?
I like to kick it with my friends, my wonderful girl, and taking care of my pitbulls.

I heard you want to start your own kennel. How did you get into that and tell us about your love for pitbulls.
I have an up and coming kennel for bully breed pitbulls. Bullies are the short compact pits that I recommend every one should get. I've always had love for the breed of pits and soon as I had the chance of getting one, I hopped on it. They are so loyal and the best friend any one can have. I don't believe in fighting any dog period...especially this breed. Like any dog, it will do only what it's taught. For example, if you raise a kid to be a killer, he's gonna be a killer. It's dumb people like Michael Vick that give the breed a very bad name. I take very good care of all my dogs and I treat them all the same. All they look for is love and attention and my girlfriend and I give that to them. We spend as much time with them as possible by taking them to the dog park, keeping them social with other animals, and taking them to bully expos in So Cal. I just got a new pup from Hektik Kennels in So Cal. His name is King Yoda and he's my show dog and placed second in his first show.The only dog to beat him was his brother and his name is Home Boy. Both have some of the best blood in them... Gottiline,Razors Edge,and Greyline... so watch out for these two. They are gonna make some noise in the business in the near future.

You used to train with Ken Shamrock when you first got into MMA. How was that experience?
Training with Ken was ok. He was the first major trainer I had so being new to the game, I was pumped. Now that I'm not with that team anymore, I feel like I've learned a lot more and met a lot of great people, but overall it was ok and I don't regret being there.

You fought in Colorado before. Does the altitude affect you in any way there and is there a chance some of the fighters will gas early if they don't get used to the altitude?
Oh yeah,the altitude is gonna get a lot of fighters when they come up here. I think the fighters on the card will be up here in time to get use to the altitude, but I know there will be at least one fight that shows the affect of the altitude. It wont be me, that's for sure. I've been up here since February 16th just to make sure I don't gas again.

Besides MMA, what other sports do you like?
I like all sports, even golf (laughs). If there's one sport I can try, it would be rugby.

Thanks for your time AJ and good luck with your fight.
Thank you for your time. I'd like to thank everyone who stood by me on my loss to Rich and all my boys at KNOXX. They are my biggest supporters.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

AJ is an exciting fighter. Can't wait to see him fight Tommy Speer. War AJ!!

Anonymous said...

Knoxx DOWN, u sucks, u won one fast but you lost many more faster.

Anonymous said...

Antony Johnson is an exciting fighter with lots of power!! How can the person below say he lost many faster...He had one of the top 10 fastest KNOCKOUTS in UFC history so i doubt he's lost any of his matches faster than that! I think you should get your facts straight before you talk there, keyboard warrior! AJ has always been a back up fighter for the UFC so for him to do so well at such a short notice and to cut so much weight so fast, thats very impressive! I know he will kill Speers in the fight in a couple weeks!!!

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see Rumble fight again. This guy is mad crazy and always seems to try to get the knock out win. You can't ask for a more exciting fighter. He might have lost to Clementi but he was killing Rich all the way until Rumble gassed out. I want to see how he does in the cage now that he had advance notice for this fight!

Anonymous said...

Good interview. Why did he call out Vick like that though.

Anonymous said...

He called out Vick because he hurt and killed and tortured his dogs. But we Georgia Boys gotta stick together mane. Hold it down. One

Anonymous said...

I'm a pitbull owner and I think they are great dogs. I'm glad hes trying to educate people about this great breed. Its never the dog and always the owners of the dogs that cause pit attacks and pit bull related crimes. Anthony Johnson is the MAN!

Anonymous said...

I didnt know Rumble is going to fight Tommy Speers. Its gonna be a great battle and I hope it stays on its feet. I would love to see those 2 guys bang!! Rumble should take this one I personally think hes too explosive. I want to see him KO that TUF guy and make him go back to his farm.

Anonymous said...

I read on his Myspace that hes been training with Dan Hendersons camp and Tito Ortiz's Team Punishment to prepare for this fight with Speers. Shit, with pointers and training tips with from those Elite teams he should have this fight EASY!

Anonymous said...

How do you know Speer is not training with a world class team? Grove teamed with Tito and he got KTFO. Hendo got KTFO.Speer is training with Matt Hughes?

Anonymous said...

Soo...that means this time the table will turn and Tommy will get knocked out...Revenge time!

Anonymous said...

Tommy Speer is a loser

Anonymous said...

all the haters better relax and respect my boy while he runs through this Speer guy

Anonymous said...

Speer died RIP TOMMY

Anonymous said...

Rumble is the MAN!!! He is an exciting knock out artist!

Anonymous said...

Johnson won another fast one! Great job!! This guy is explosive and I would love to see him fight more. Another mma star is born!

Anonymous said...

Dude should fight GSP or Fitch ASAP

Anonymous said...

The dude was impressive in how he fought and defended take downs. I only hope he gets some knowledge on American Pit Bull Terriers. He is a dumb ass in that department. True-to-Standard APBTs LOVE the fight and cannot be trained out of it. The fight is in their genes. Good thing he has those mongrel bully dogs. Just do not call them "pit bulls" because they are far, far away from being related to them. Gottiline....lmao! Gr Ch Mayday, Jeep, Gr Ch Buck, Chinaman, etc, etc. Now those were real APBTs. Modified Cajun Rules...google and get educated. Do not donate to H$U$, they want to get rid of the breed.

Anonymous said...

If I was GSP or the champ I would want to face this guy now instead of down the line where he will have more experience and be better. He can be beaten now because in a few years he will be what GSP is today BUT only if he trains hard and stays committed to MMA

Anonymous said...

Burns FTL!!! For the Lost!