Better Man

Your Guide to Living Smarter, Healthier and Happier

AnMMA fighter at the top of his game, Ronald Dlamini’s life took a tragic turn when he went blind. But his belief that he could win any fight–even those within himself–helped him carve out a new path, and change the lives of those around him.

He’s listening for your breath. It tells him you’re tired.That you're just a few steps away. A sharp intake?Heknowsyou’regetting ready to throw a punch, and he steels himself to dodge and fling you to the ground.

Ronald Dlamini fights in darkness.He wants you to know that. He wants you to underestimate him. He wants you be surprised.And by the end of the fight, he wants you to start believing: This guy can actually see.

THE COMA 

In 2012, Dlamini was in a coma. He’d recently hung up his gloves to focus on personal training – it seemed like the logical next step after he was crowned a mixed martial arts champion back in 2009, and then went on to win a series of fights under the moniker ‘Black Mamba’ – but he was plagued by chronic and often incapacitating headaches. By the time he was admitted to hospital, he was in severe pain. He was given injections to manage the pain – and then suddenly, the world went black: he was in a coma. 

Dlamini was gone for ten days. 

“The doctors told my family and friends that I was going to die,” he says. “I was going to see the light, there was nothing they could do for me.” Miraculously, he woke up. But his mind was in chaos. His mom would later tell him that he’d been crazy: “I didn’t even know my own name, or understand what anyone was saying.”