Dada 5000 Hospitalized with Renal Failure Following Loss to Kimbo Slice

Following his Bellator 149 bout against Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson on Friday, Dhafir “Dada 5000? Harris was transported to a local Houston hospital suffering from severe dehydration, fatigue and renal failure.

On Saturday, Harris’ family released a statement about the fighter’s condition.

“The Harris Family would like to inform Dada’s friends and fans that Dada is ok and resting comfortably in a Houston area Hospital under the care of an incredible staff of doctors and nurses,” the press release read.

“The doctors have now informed us that Dada had accumulated extremely high levels of potassium in his blood which led to severe dehydration, fatigue and renal failure. The high potassium levels were likely caused by his 40-pound weight loss in preparation for the fight,” it stated.

“Thanks to the EMTs and doctors, Dada is now recovering nicely,” read the statement.

“Dada showed the heart of a lion in the cage- not backing down throughout. He worked extremely hard preparing for the fight and stepped forward for 3 rounds against a tough veteran. He kept digging through the adversity- leaving it all in the cage for his fans and supporters. You can never take that away from him.

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“We’d like to thank all those who have supported Dada as well as express our sincere appreciation to Scott Coker, and the good people at BELLATOR and Spike who have been on-site to visit Dada and support the family.”

Harris lost by technical knockout in the third round after collapsing to the canvas from exhaustion. He weighed in at the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds on Thursday.  The situation raises questions about weight cutting in mixed martial arts.  In October, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency implemented new regulations banning the use of IV fluids to rehydrate.

In December, Yang Jian Bing, a ONE FC Championship fighter passed away due to complications while attempting to make weight for the ONE Championship 35 event in Philippines.

The Harris family asked for the public and media to respect Dada’s privacy as he recovers.

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