Dada 5000, real name is Dhafir Harris, reportedly suffered a heart attack after collapsing from what looked like fatigue in a fight with Kimbo Slice at Bellator 149 in February. Harris reported that his heart stopped twice, once for eight minutes. He was diagnosed with renal failure, and spent nearly two weeks in the hospital.
Harris had lost nearly 40 pounds to make the 265 heavyweight limit, and the process apparently depleted him. Although he had a record of 2-0, it was against fighters with a combined record of 1-16. The lone win among his two opponents was a DQ from an illegal kick. His record was thus extraordinary unusual for a nationally televised main event fight.
His kidneys started functioning again. Had they not, he would have been in dialysis for life. There have been suggestions that the nearly fatal disaster was caused by a lack of preparation and experience, and bad luck.
However, in a recent interview with Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting, Harris said he was poisoned. Further, Harris expressed dismay that his opponent tested positive for steroids, but was suspended for only three months by the Texas Department of Licensing and Registration?.
There is a lot more to this situation than people can imagine.
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I’m a true warrior at the door. So at the end of the day… I can say that the water is not clean. This situation goes deeper than the steroids. When the truth comes out in a second, it’s going to show that this dude could not have beat me even though he was on steroids, and I was compromised.
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Listen, with what comes out in a second, is going to be shocking, and I don’t think nobody is going to have respect for Kimbo Slice ever again.
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It was a great opportunity that Bellator gave me. I didn’t think that I was walking into an ambush, in a sense. But that’s how I’m feeling right now, looking at it like this. … This is a business. You can’t pick faces inside the business.
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In this game, at this stage, you know, I don’t trust anybody because everybody has to fight. Anybody can be compromised.
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I don’t want to say that Bellator knew that he was on this type of s***, but it’s hard for me to believe that they did not know.
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I just can’t wait till I’m clear to really elaborate and shock the world on what it is that happened to me.
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Listen, when my kidneys went out, I had two heart attacks that triggered a lot of things inside my body. But that was induced. That was not natural. That’s as much as I can say about that.
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I was cleared and ready to fight. I felt great up until the time I started taking and drinking that water out of the back dressing room. I’m telling you guys this.
Question: Who do you think it was? Kimbo’s people?
Harris: If it is, we’re going to find out. But the truth of the matter is that I felt horrible after I started drinking that water. This is bigger than me. There is a lot of money on the line; millions and millions of dollars were on the betting line. I don’t know who it could have been, but I know it was not natural…
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I come to fight. Don’t set me up, man. Don’t do that man. I got a family, man. If a fight meant that much to you, I wouldn’t have taken it. I wouldn’t have taken it. This is worse than in the streets.
