ONE Championship: Aung La N Sang dedicates Singapore fight to Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson after death from illness at 38

The pressure of any fight week can already be overbearing for most fighters.

But when Aung La N Sang makes the walk to the ONE Championship cage on Saturday, he will be thinking about his friend and former training partner Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, who died on Sunday aged 38 after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.

Johnson joined the UFC in 2007 and was a two-time light heavyweight title challenger before hanging up his gloves in 2017. He came out of retirement four years later and got a final knockout win in May 2021 to improve his record to 23-6.

“I mean it’s really, really sad because you saw him maybe a year and a half ago in the [Bellator] tournament, competing in his peak shape, and just months later he’s going through all this and it breaks my heart,” N Sang said.

“It just goes to show that life is short and you’ve got to be thankful and feel blessed to be alive and do what you love, like I love what I do.

“That’s why I can’t hold animosity or hatred over little things like a loss. For me, it’s motivation for sure. I get to wake up on Saturday morning and do what I love and get ready for my fight, and Rumble is gonna be in my thoughts for sure.”