What is a Dada 5000?
Last weekend UFC's fierce competitor, Bellator MMA, held a very unique fight card. The main event featured the trilogy fight no one asked for, between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie, with Kimbo Slice and Dada 5000 as the real main event.
The much anticipated grudge match between two former street fighters turned MMA fighters was underwhelming, to put it lightly. By the mid point of round 1 the two brawlers were already graspping for every oxygen molecule the crowded Toyota center in Houston,Texas had to offer. The painfully slow and horrificly sloppy slug fest lasted for 2 and half rounds before Kimbo Slice managed to deliver a finishing blow that sent the man called Dada 5000 doing the Ric Flair faceplant inside the cage mid way through round 3.
Settling the scoreKimbo Slice wins in R3 due to Dada 5000 falling asleep mid-fight. pic.twitter.com/QvjWMuKzpK— Mike Skytte (@MikeLovesTacosX) February 20, 2016
There's really no way around this. The fight was horrible. Probably one of the worst ones ever. But that's not the reason this fight got it's quickly earned infamy. Dhafir Harris, known by his street name of "Dada 5000" was in such bad shape that he had to be taken out of the cage on a strecher and ended up being hospitalized afterward and even suffering brief heart failure. Reasoning for such bad medical health had very little to do with the fight that preceded the hospitalization. The problem, however, was due to Dada's overall weak atheltic shape. The backyard brawler reportedly suffered from sever dehydration having to cut 40lbs to make the Bellator heavyweight limit. Just to put things in perspective, prior to his Stipe Miočić fight, Mark Hunt had to cut 20lbs.The booking of this fight had very little meaning to Bellator's heavyweight division. It's meaning was found in it's circus-esque appeal. Two big black bearded street fighters, turned mma fighters, filled with tattoos and catchy street names who were raised by the hood. Both gained fame as kings of the street fighting, with Kimbo Slice being the one with bit more mainstream exposure.
One of the many famous Kimbo Slice backyard brawl videos that went viral and turned the man into an internet sensation.
Add to that they have real life beef outside the cage and that Kimbo still has one of the most watched MMA fights ever, you really don't have to be a genius to see why this fight was made. It's a fun "freaks show" fight that is so bad it's actually good. Japanese MMA scene was practially built on such fights. Wether it was booking the #1 ranked heavyweight champion against an inexperienced huge overweight Brazilian or booking a 230cm(7'5'' ft.) tall professional wrestler against a sumo wrestler these fights were entertaning for all the wrong reasons, but entertaning nevertheless. The same was expected from this fight of the century. And It was, two huge street boxers gasping for air in the first round, like they passed over the biggest flight of stairs, and somehow sill surviving all the way to the third round was just the right mix of hilarious and horrible. However, it had it's price, a price that nearly ended a man's life. Which strongly indicates that he had no buisness being in a professional MMA bout, let alone headlining a major card from a fight promotion that wants to be taken seriously. Just taking a quick gander at the level of opponents he has faced should be more than enough to tell you all of this. Prior to last weekend's showdown with Kevin Ferguson( better know as Kimbo Slice) Harris fought twice. In his debut fight against Cedric James(0-6) and against Tim Papp(1-10) both fighters were MMA journeymen at best and getting quick knockout wins against such oppponents doesn't warranty the crediblity of fighting in the second biggest MMA organization in the world.
Conclusion
This fight served as a warning for any and all future bookings of such fights. Kimbo Slice is now on a (very misleading) two fight win streak, what if he gets paired up against a credible fighter who can do some damage? His short UFC stint showed that any fighter that takes fighting even remotely seriously, can beat him. The same goes for Dada, he is now 2-1. A very misleading fight record. What if he gets a rematch with Kimbo and we see a repeat of the first fight but this time he actually dies within the cage doors? In a sport that's still being categorized as human cockfighting something like this would set MMA backwards in progress. Now I'm not saying there shouldn't be fights like these. They serve their purpose and are fun to watch. However, there has to be some sort of regulation in fights like these. Fighters must be able to pass certain health and conditioning tests that prove that they are fit to fight. After all, this is a combat sport and certain expectations have to be made to make sure your body won't fall apart after the first punch hits you. This is where an athletic comission comes into play. They are the regulatory body that makes sure everyone is on equal(or close to equal) grounds when fighting. What exactly was the Texas comission thinking when they granted Dhafir Harris a fighters license, remains a mystery. Risky buisness moves such as this one. could end up only hurting the company and making an already controversial sport even further marginalized.
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