Josiah Harrell is staying positive in the wake of a difficult medical discovery.
Friday, a day before his scheduled promotional debut at UFC 290, Harrell (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was removed from his bout against Jack Della Maddalena when a pre-fight medical test showed he was suffering from a previously undiscovered rare disease. Brain diseases.
Harrell, 24, has been diagnosed with moya, a disease that can cause blood clots in the back of the brain. His manager, Maurice Blanco of First Round Management, told MMA Junkie that the pre-fight MRI was a “blessing in disguise” and may have saved his client’s life. Harrell signed with the UFC less than a week before he was removed from the card. The MRI on his pre-fight medical evaluation was the first ever.
Harrell first addressed his withdrawal Saturday in an Instagram post shared during Saturday’s card. Harrell gave his perspective on what happened and expressed optimism about the eventual return.
“Break and move on. Small [bump] on my way. We’ve done everything on our end and redesigned all of our medical services this week
1. Physical 2. Blood 3. MRI 4. Eyes
“Check all of them except for something that showed up on the MRI scan that they wanted me to make sure it wasn’t something serious. Turns out I had a treatable brain disease that would be back up and running ASAP.
Sorry to everyone I know ether wanted to see me tap my head or would like to see me with my hand raised I only have a little info on what’s going on but I know I’m going to be a lab rat for a while 💪🏻 🐹 and it fits“Even though we had 6 days notice, even though there were media obligations and paperwork and medical stuff, we still did everything on our end. I put on weight and it was still after weight gain that I got up and rushed for more medical shit Once we found out we didn’t get the news until about 2/3 pm No complaints telling me what to do and it will be done.
“Wildlife week I will get better I will keep you guys updated on the process thank you for all your prayers and love we will get well soon.
“I love you.”
Harrell is expected to undergo brain surgery, though the timeline for the procedure is unclear.
Although moyamoya disease is rare, there is a near-identical case of another fighter who was removed from his UFC debut upon discovery. In 2019, Vince Murdock was cast as Moyamoya. He underwent brain surgery and returned to competition in 2020.
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