Former Bellator featherweight champion Daniel Straus was involved in a devastating accident. Now eight months removed from the incident, the former title holder is now looking to make a big mixed martial arts return.
On Dec. 17, 2017, Daniel Straus suffered a crash while driving his motorcycle. The fighter was unable to move upon returning to consciousness. Speaking to MMA Fighting, Daniel Straus has now come forward with some details from the incident.
“I was scared to death, and everybody else was scared to death. My friend at the time [Daisy] was just buggin’, because it was such a freak accident. People ask me all types of questions — ‘were you drinking?’ this or that — because it was 4 o’clock in the morning. But what people don’t realize is that I wasn’t partying. In fact, that night I was so exhausted and didn’t even want to be out.”
“A friend who was going through some tough times happened to ask me to join him for the night, saying he just didn’t want to go home. So me and my girl said fine, we’ll hang out for a couple of hours, and we drove right past our home to take him to the highway. It’s when we split off from the highway that it happened. It’s one of those things, dude, I just wanted to go home. Had I just went home, none of this would have happened. I probably would have fought two or three times by now. But I decided to help a friend to get where he had to go, and this ended up being my consequence.”
“When this first happened and I was still recovering, I was crying because I couldn’t tie my shoe. I couldn’t sit at a table because I couldn’t pick up a fork. I couldn’t eat cereal. I couldn’t do a lot of things. So now to tie my shoes, to turn my head, to be able to walk — shit, to not even have to wear a neck brace — I’m very grateful. That’s one thing I’ve learned throughout this process, is patience and gratitude.”
“[The accident] made me look at things differently, but at the same time I try to just keep the same positive mindset. Shit happens. But it definitely had its moments where it tore me down. Yes, I’ve been depressed throughout this whole ordeal. Yes, I’ve been sad. I’ve had thoughts of what am I going to do now, or should I come back, or should I retire? I’ve had normal everyday stuff. But I haven’t let this beat me. I’ve learned from it as much as I could, and I’ve taken a lot away from it.”
“I’m very grateful for my life, and I’m grateful for the ability to walk. I think one of the things we really take for granted in life in general are the smallest things in the world. My first time of being smacked in the face with that reality was being in jail. Being locked up. To go through that in life and think, I’ll never be there again, and then to get tested in another way. It’s really humbling.”
Speaking on the future, Daniel Straus revealed that he wants to make his way back to the Bellator featherweight title.
“That’s my goal. To get back to a world title position, and fight for my belt again.” And here he gets quiet for just a second, as he contemplates the original trouble before the accident ever occurred. The belt that he lost. Twice. The belt that he was already envisioning getting back. The belt that, as it fell further in his rear-view mirror, came into sharper focus than ever.
“I’ve never been able to defend it. I still have so many goals in this sport, so many things I want to accomplish, that are still worth pushing for. Getting back is goal number one, and getting my title back is goal number two. It can be done. It can be done.”
