Published 03/16/2023, 5:15 PM EDT
UFC president Dana White is now promoting a brand new form of combat sports that has divided the community. Slap fighting has now become the latest trend of bizarre combat sports competition and has taken the world by storm. The sport first gained popularity after videos of local promotions organizing contestants where participants had to slap each other until one of them was kneed out.
This naturally garnered a lot of criticism from the combat sports community due to the insignificance of defense. However, the brutal knockouts made for some great highlights that would eventually lead to White creating his own Power Slap League. Despite this, former Olympic Bronze Medalist Tony Jeffries thinks that the sport should be banned.
Tony Jeffries slams Dana White for promoting Power Slap Championship
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In a recent video, Jeffries reacted to some clips of these matches. However, his facial expression would change as soon as he saw a man getting knocked out. He then claimed that he could not understand how this could even be considered being a sport. Furthermore, he even called out the UFC boss for trying to promote this and asked for it to be permanently banned.
“Now how this is a sport, never mind a legal sport, is beyond me and Dana White is trying to promote this. It’s absolutely stupid. If there is a sport in the world, no I’m not gonna call this a sport. I’m not gonna give it that credit. If there is something in the world that needs banning, I believe that it should be this.” he said.
Although the former Olympic medalist does raise some good points; calling for a ban might be a little extreme for some. However, with fighter safety now being the priority of promotions, this sport could very well be banned in some time. Moreover, White‘s Power Slap fighting will not be renewed for another season with TBS.
Dana White’s Power Slap Championship gets booted after one season
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MMA Fighting recently reported that Power Slap Fighting will not be renewed on TBS for another season. The reality show was aired on TBS in 2022 at 10 p.m. following AEW on Wednesday. The championship saw an average of 220,000 average viewers with a .05 rating. However, the network has decided it won’t air the show for the second season.
via Imago LAS VEGAS, NV – March 8: Dana White at UFC Apex for Power Slap 1 – press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz on March 8, 2023 in Las Vegas, NV, United States. Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages Louis Grasse / SPP PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxBRAxMEX Copyright: xLouisxGrassex/xSPPx spp-en-LoGr-lrg230308184709_powerSlap1
Despite this, the UFC president has already struck a deal in principle with Rumble for a full-time move. In addition, talks of the second season in Abu Dhabi are in the works. Even though the sport is being criticized by many, its growth does look good with more audiences coming in by the day.
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What did you think about Jeffries calling for a ban on slap fighting? Let us know in the comments.
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