After witnessing Dada 5000’s bag work at the Bellator 149 open workout session, MMA pundits were rather unimpressed by the hand speed, power and precision of the Miami street brawler. In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas, Dada, whose real name is Dhafir Harris, revealed his sloppy form was only used to distract spectators, including his opponent Kimbo Slice.
“I showed them what I wanted them to see,” Harris said. “That’s why it’s called the element of surprise. You can give a person your game plan, and then they can use it to help formulating the attack plan. So I’m smart enough to give them what I want them to see. And, if I’m not mistaking, he didn’t look too hot himself. But mine, if there were flaws inside of it, that’s something we went over. His was all on purpose.”
Bellator’s announcement of Dada 5000 as the next opponent of Kimbo Slice came as a surprise to fans and media alike. The 38-year-old heavyweight hails from the same Miami neighborhood as Slice and had temporarily worked as his bodyguard, but later parted ways with the UFC veteran. His record as a professional fighter is a bit thin at 2-0, to put it lightly. But although he admitted that Bellator MMA is his biggest stage so far, he also claimed to have plenty of competitive combat-sports experience.
“I’m used to the cameras. I fought a couple of times before. I am undefeated, no one has gotten out of the first round. A lot of people, they fail to speak about that.”
Dada 5000 and Kimbo Slice will co-headline Bellator 149 this Friday in Houston, Texas and Harris promised to “use Kimbo Slice as a simple token” of his appreciation. The event is headlined by a legends bout between Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock.
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