The Bellator 149 Kimbo Slice vs. DaDa 5000 co main event was not well received by the fans in attendance, or the hardcore fanbase, or fighters and media on social networks. DaDa 5000 lasted far longer than had been anticipated, and Slice gassed even earlier than most had anticipated.
In the end, DaDa 5000 basically collapsed from exhaustion in a fight that also saw a stand up from Mount. One has to wonder what John McCarthy was thinking.
Harris cut to make 265, while Slice weighed in at 232, and at the post fight press conference, Slice pointed to that difference as a factor in his not dazzling performance. And he discussed what he learned from the win.
“Losing is not an option for me,” said Slice, as transcribed by MMA Fighting. “You’ve got to really just beat the hell out of me in there. I never just give up. I don’t care if you’ve got a submission, you’re going to have to break it. If you got a neck, you’re going to have to choke me out, put me to sleep. And if you got better hands, you’re going to have to knock me out silly for the ref to stop it.
“I’m that type of fighter. I’m not going to never, never just give up in a fight. As long as I can breathe, and I get back to my feet, we’re going to go.”
“It was really the weight. I underestimated the weight. It’s all good. It went three rounds, I did good.
“It lets me know that I have to continue to train with a little bit more bigger guys to get used to that weight. He was a pretty strong dude. He took punches better than I thought, but hard work in training camp pays off.”
“Man, I saw a lot of submission I wanted to go for. But Mikey (ATT coach Mike Brown), he said, ‘Kimbo, let’s just stick to an old-fashioned KO. … That’s why I said, you know what, a couple of takedowns on anybody — to go down and get back up, to go down and get back up — it’ll take a toll on you, especially a heavier fighter. So a few times, I took him down, kept him down, tried to put my weight on him, but backed up off or to let John get us back up.
“Dude, how epic would it be if I finished a fight with some submissions? Right? That’s what I’m saying, man. I still have goals.”
At the very least, the fight gave all the fans the idea that they too might be able to win in a televised main event, if given the opportunity.
Slice is expected to fight again in July.
