John Dodson has made his first comments on Friday’s serious car accident that nearly took his life as well as those of his wife and three children.
Dodson, a 17-fight UFC veteran and Season 14 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, was involved in a highly dangerous vehicle collision while driving from New Mexico to Texas that left his entire family in the hospital.
The fighter’s manager, Ricky Kottenstette, broke the news on Saturday, also sharing a GoFundMe.com page to help with medical and other expenses for the family. There’s currently more than $8,000 in donations toward the $50,000 goal.
Hours later, Dodson posted a statement on the accident with some frightening details from his recollection of how the situation occurred, and how close he and his family came to death.
Just letting everyone know we’re all alive and no one is seriously injured. The car we hit was left in the middle of the highway after that person hit an 18 wheel and another car crashed into it as well. He had no Hazzards light, no flares and no other warning to let us know. I hit the car and we rolled. I don’t know how many times but luckily the cables in the median stopped us from rolling onto traffic going the other direction. The guy fled on foot after he saw my vehicle rolled.. I gotta thank infinite for the design of the suv cuz it protected my family and I from dying. We’re just lucky no one died and we can live to see another day and be reminded on how luck we are. Life is short and you don’t know when it’s gonna end so enjoy it while you can.
The 36-year-old was scheduled to begin his post-UFC tenure on July 30 with a matchup against Cody Gibson at XMMA 2, but the injuries stemming from the accident have forced his withdrawal
Gibson issued a statement of support to Dodson, and encouraged others to donate to his crowdfunding page (via Twitter):
Super bummed that our fight is off but am glad he and his family are ok. It looks like I have a new opponent for the fight. I’ll donate what I can from the fight and encourage you all to help chip in as well. https://t.co/Z6P02U7RiM
— Cody Gibson (@TheRenegade559) July 3, 2021
Super bummed that our fight is off but am glad he and his family are ok. It looks like I have a new opponent for the fight. I’ll donate what I can from the fight and encourage you all to help chip in as well.
Dodson has yet to provide exact details about the injuries from the accident, or how it could impact his fighting future going forward.
UFC vet John Dodson details near-death car accident: ‘I hit the car and we rolled’
