Dhafir Harris, better known to the world as MMA fighter Dada 5000, was clinically dead at the end of his February fight with Kimbo Slice at Bellator 149.
That’s according to Dada himself, who wrote in a Wednesday afternoon post on his Instagram account that he suffered kidney failure and two heart attacks while in the cage with Slice. Harris quickly deleted the post, but media outlets including Sherdog captured his quotes before the post was deleted (and savvy tweeters screenshot his post too, as seen below).
“Yes I did have kidney failure during the fight I also had 2 heart attacks which I did code aka Died during the Fight,” the post read in part. “Glory to the Most High which saw favor in me to bring me back.”
In the co-main event of the February 19 Bellator card, Slice (real name Kevin Ferguson), 42, scored a third-round TKO of Harris, 38. Like Slice, Dada gained viral fame as a kingpin of Miami’s underground street-fighting scene, some installments of which made their way to YouTube.
The fight drew widespread Internet laughter and criticism as one of the worst in MMA history, culminating when Dada collapsed to the mat in the third round, seemingly from exhaustion and seemingly without Slice having touched him. The bout was nevertheless ruled a TKO win for Slice.
The laughter of the national television audience presumably faded as it watched Dada fail to stand up under his own power. He was subsequently removed from the cage on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital.
Soon after, Dada’s camp released a statement saying he had experienced “renal failure,” likely from huge “weight loss” in advance of the fight, and was “recovering nicely.”
The one-day hospital stay turned into one week as media outlets reported that Harris’ heart had stopped and he had nearly died. Harris finally left the hospital March 3.
Now comes Dada’s own statement that he actually died inside the cage during the fight.
Dada is 2-1 as a pro MMA fighter. His future in fighting is unclear, but it stands to reason that most, if not all, promotions will think twice before signing Harris to compete again.
For his own part, in his Wednesday post Harris sounded an upbeat note, writing that he was recovering and will attempt to return to fighting.
“Thank you all for your Prayers And Support,” the post read. “I will make a full recovery and will be back Bigger, Faster and stronger than ever before that much you can Count On!!!”
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com