‘Dada 5000’ remains in hospital under observation, manager addresses training

Dhafir “Dada 5000” Harris was expected to be released from the hospital today, but doctors are keeping him over the weekend and into early next week to observe his condition.

The news comes via Harris’ official Facebook in the hours after his Bellator 149 co-headliner opposite Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson.

The news comes via Harris’ official Facebook account, seven days after he suffered renal failure and severe dehydration in the hours after his Feb. 19 Bellator 149 co-headliner opposite Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson.

“We had hoped to bring Dada’s fans and supporters news that he would be released today after completing a full week in the hospital,” the statement read. “However, his Doctors have required that he stay through the weekend and into early next week for continued monitoring and observation.

“If his progress continues as it has he should be released early next week.”

Harris’ manager, Mike Vazquez, on Wednesday told MMAjunkie that, though Bellator retains the right to offer him another bout, Harris is unlikely to fight again and faced Ferguson only because it was a bout that “had to happen.”

“It’s pretty much safe to say Dada will not be getting back into a ring, unless it’s to help his friends,” he said.

Billed as a grudge match between to street-fighting legends, Harris and Ferguson went toe-to-toe early in their Spike-televised bout at Houston’s Toyota Center, but Ferguspn quickly took the action to the ground. After returning to their feet, both fighters tired quickly, with neither able to do much to finish the fight.

Ferguson (6-2 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), a more experienced grappler and the fresher man after two rounds, wore down Harris (2-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) and landed a flurry of punches that preceded his fall to the canvas in the third frame.

The bout was widely ridiculed by longtime MMA observers, though there was no doubt the fight was massively popular on TV, drawing 2.9 million viewers in the third round, according to a release from Spike.

Harris also faced criticism for a perceived lack of conditioning, with longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan joking the fighter’s heart was filled with “fried chicken and orange soda.”

Vazquez reacted angrily to Rogan’s comment, at one point declaring, “I doubt Joe would stand in front of Dada and say that joke to his face,” and defended Harris’ training regimen in the lead-up to the fight.

The manager said a 40-pound weight cut reported by Harris’ family in the wake of his medical troubles was done gradually – not all at once. He said the fighter had hired a nutritionist in addition to boxing and MMA coaches to help him during training.

The problem, Vazquez said, was that Harris was unfamiliar with the effects of losing so much of his bulk, and thus ran quickly out of energy.

“There was no history or track record of him cutting weight,” he said.

Vazquez said Harris’ plan was to stand and trade with Ferguson and smother him against the fence while landing elbows and knees. If the fight hit the mat, he was to use his size to reverse position, which at one point he managed to do.

A moment when Harris was at Ferguson’s back was a pivotal point during the fight, Vazquez said, because a flurry could have finished the fight. But Harris simply had no energy to do so.

“He had it literally in his hands, and unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be,” Vazquez said.

Vazquez declined to speak about Harris’ medical troubles on the night of the event, but he said the fighter was transported to the hospital with his twin brother and was immediately sedated when he reached the hospital. Filmmaker Billy Corben, who profiled Harris in the documentary “Dawg Fight,” said the fighter almost died and made a “miraculous recovery.”

But with today’s news, it will be a little while before he is free to resume normal life.

For more on Bellator 149, check out the MMA Events section of the site.