Josiah Harrell is a promising fighter hailing from Ohio, competing in the welterweight division. In smaller MMA leagues, Harrell swept through his opponents, finishing them all. After building up an impressive undefeated record, Harrell’s life took a turn when he received a call from the UFC to step in on short notice against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 290.
Harrell jumped on the opportunity immediately, regardless of the risks the fight presented to him. But during fight week, the tragic fate of Harrell led to a reveal of a deadly brain disease that he was suffering from, which snatched away his UFC debut from his hands.
Josiah Harrell discusses his Moyamoya brain surgery
The American fighter had to forcefully put a pause to his fighting career, which was on a speed-lane to stardom, due to his critical condition. Even the best fighters have been known to take long layoffs due to injuries, but none of them have suffered a life-threatening condition like Josiah Harrell.
Harrell recently underwent surgery and described the details of the operation. He said, “They took my skull off, drilled a hole through it, took a vein from outside of my skull, threaded it through the hole, attached two extra veins at the end of that, then they used that to make blood flow to the top of my right side of my brain and the side of the right side of my brain. Then, they put the skull back on and put a titanium plate over it and just took the ends of the vein that they threaded through it.”
Harrell’s recovery timeline
Although Harrell is currently facing a curveball that most don’t overcome, that is not the fabric from which the ‘Muscle Hamster’ is made. After surgery, Harrell is currently rehabilitating in Florida and aims to be back in about 6 months’ time. He is more determined than ever to get back into action despite all the hurdles life throws at him.
No one deserves to go through what Josiah Harrell has endured, and he deserves all the praise in the world for turning out to be tougher as a person than even some of the best fighters in the world.
