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.