The ending of the 2016 bout between Dada 5000 and Kimbo Slice may have been deemed lackluster by many fans, but the events that followed the fight were not.
Dada and Slice would throw down inside the Bellator cage at Bellator 149 in February 2016. The fight would take its toll on both fighters in this battle. Their health would never be the same. The event would mark the end of both of their careers that night.
The Aftermath
Kimbo Slice would die months after his fight with Dada, due to a heart attack.
A near-death experience would happen for Dada 5000 as well, not once but twice. His fight was not over whenever referee called the fight off. It was just beginning.
“This was the biggest fight of my career. It’s amazing for people to think that I didn’t show up, this stuff goes deeper down the rabbit hole than one can imagine. That’s why I want everybody to watch, you know what I’m saying? I died twice in that ring.”
A New Fight
After spending 11 minutes locked inside a cage with Slice, Dada would fight death itself from a hospital bed. The doctors almost waved it off, pulling the plug on Dada, but the heavyweight fought through.
“When I went down, my heart stopped, you know, a heart stops for five minutes. Then they brought me back. Then it stopped again for eight. So I had no heartbeat for 13 minutes, you know, and the hospital, you know, they was literally that ready to give up on me, but I was inside of a homeless stage, but I heard everything and, you know, I just love one fight to start another fight.”
“So at that point I was fighting for my life. You know what I’m saying? And I refuse, I refuse to lay down, you know? And, uh, I broke through, you know, thanks to God, and my will to pull through. Everything shut down and my heart was the last one to go, but I just refused to stop fighting. I swung until I had nothing left, that fight could have went anyway, because I had him on the ground on all fours in one round, I just didn’t have it in me to finish it.”
🥊 "I just refused to stop fighting … that fight could have went any way." — @therealdada5000 remembers his bout w/ Kimbo Slice on "The Celebrity of Combat Sports" w/ @jimmysmithmma 🔊
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) August 4, 2021
👂Full show here and FREE via the SXM app –> https://t.co/LcR4nAMedU pic.twitter.com/c27CopXOgK
Kimbo Slice wouldn’t be so lucky, dying months later. After everything, Dada 5000 is just grateful to have another chance of living after going toe-to-toe with death.
“I’m just happy to be back to have a second chance.”
