A rumor that beleaguered Dutch-born Morroccan K-1 star Badr Hari had died today in an accident that took place in his African homeland has been laid to rest by reps from It’s Showtime — the promotion he is currently contracted to.
The story began on a thread on a Dutch forum (which has now been taken down) where a disturbing headshot photo reportedly of Badr dead and covered with blood was also posted and the story quickly grew legs and spread amongst the MMA community. Much like a similar rumor that made the rounds about Kimo Leopoldo last July and was picked up by several mainstream sites including CNN and TMZ, the Hari story was given credence by the fact that nobody could locate the kickboxer.
The rumor was eventually refuted by the tweet above posted on It’s Showtime’s Twitter page.
You can check out the photo that helped propel the story after the jump, but we’ll warn you that it isn’t pretty and it’s obviously someone dead or severely injured. We’ve included a pic of Hari for comparison.