Daiane Silva still hospitalized after botched Bellator London weight cut led to coma

Daiane Silva | Photo via Daiane Silva’s Instagram page

Daiane Silva remains hospitalized five weeks after falling ill following a botched weight cut for her Bellator London clash with Eman Almudhaf on Sept. 14, MMA Fighting has confirmed.

Cris Cyborg’s Curitiba-based MMA promotion Nação Cyborg posted on social media Saturday that Silva is currently hospitalized in England. The post has since been deleted, but Silva’s manager Alex Davis confirmed Silva’s status to MMA Fighting.

Bellator officials and have not responded to multiple requests for comment.

The promotion flew one of Silva’s friends from Brazil to be with her at the hospital, MMA Fighting has learned, and that person has updated Bellator officials daily on her recovery. MMA Fighting was told Silva fell ill while dehydrating and had to be hospitalized put in induced coma after suffering kidney failure. She’s currently sedated, and it’s unclear what after-effects may occur once she’s cleared from the hospital.

“As Daiane made weight for her debut in Bellator, she suffered an accident due to dehydration,” Davis stated in a release. “She was promptly seen by the doctor, was rushed to the hospital in delicate condition, was admitted to intensive care. Her condition was serious, but since, she has been improving steadily and our hope is that she recovers fully. Myself, her team, her doctor, the hospital doctors and Bellator have been working closely together in support with whatever is needed to help her recovery. We ask all to join us in our wishes and prayers that she recovers fully.”

Cris Cyborg commented briefly the situation on her post-fight media scrum in Saudi Arabia.

“Really sad,” Cyborg said. “‘Leidy Dai’ had a tough cut. I know when you have a tough cut the responsible for you is your trainers, is your coach around you. I think you have to be cut safe and make an agreement with the event and I know they did, but the corner didn’t follow the rules. It’s really sad. I hope she recovers fast. I know she’s in bad situation but we pray for her and support her so she can come back home soon.”

Silva started her MMA career under the Nação Cyborg banner back in October of 2021, earning a split decision over Carolina Kerr at 155 pounds, and followed it up with a pair of first-round finishes of Mirela Vargas in 2023. Silva agreed to face Almudhaf on short notice at featherweight, a weight she had never made before professionally.

Speaking with MMA Fighting days before the event, Silva acknowledged she expected a rough cut to featherweight, joking she would “jinx it” if she revealed how much she weighed when offered the bout.

“It will hurt. That’s all I can say,” Silva laughed when asked about the weight cut. “I took this fight on 14 days’ notice, but I’m ready because I train four times a day here at CM [System] and we train hard every day. But as for the weight, I’m big and tall, and I have a high muscle mass percentage so it’s complicated for me, but this is the war. We’ll get there fine.”