Dana White really loves talking about Power Slap.
The UFC CEO’s latest pet project has been met with mixed reviews since making its debut with the Road to Power Slap series on TBS in early 2023. While some absolutely love the sheer brutality of it, many within the combat sports community and beyond have lambasted the so-called sport, dubbing it as nothing more than sanctioned brain trauma.
But whether you love it or hate it, Power Slap is doing some big numbers — and White loves to remind everyone of that.
“What if I did this, made it an actual sport, got it sanctioned, and put good production value behind it?” White said on the FLAGRANT podcast, recalling seeing his first slap match. “The answer is f—kin’ billions of views. Billions of views globally.
“Think about this, we started this thing 15 months ago, right? Right now, on YouTube, we got more subscribers than NHL (National Hockey League), MLS (Major League Soccer), NASCAR (racing), PGA (Professional Golfer’s Association), Barstool Sports. We have over a billion YouTube views. Eight of the top 12 largest YouTube shorts against other major sports are Power Slap. Four of the top five largest YouTube shorts on UFC’s channel. We’re No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 on UFC.
“When you think about Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, all the big stars, this thing absolutely dominates. We have more followers than every single professional sport. Every professional sports team, we have more followers than them in 15 months. I don’t know about the soccer teams, but I would say yes. We have more viewers than any Taylor Swift video ever posted.”
Dana White talks Power Slap on YouTube: Every professional sports team, we have more followers than them.
Full podcast here:https://t.co/qBVMGhLAlX pic.twitter.com/tbP2dkfOQV— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) June 5, 2024
According to a report from MMA Mania, Power Slap is No. 1 among all sports when it comes to subscriber counts on YouTube — though the same can’t be said for Instagram.
As for how Power Slap stacks up to the power of Taylor Swift, White may have gotten a little overzealous with his numbers. ‘Tay-Tay’ has five videos on YouTube that have already eclipsed the one billion mark with another eight over 500 million. She also has an insane 283 million Instagram followers and 59.2 million YouTube subscribers.
Dana White Sounds Off on Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson
Maybe the only thing the UFC CEO loves more than going on about Power Slap is trashing YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
It’s no secret that White and ‘The Problem Child’ are not overly fond of one another, much of the animosity stemming from Paul’s constant prodding of White over UFC fighter pay and the MMA juggernaut’s restricting contracts that prevents fighters from pursuing financial opportunities outside of the Octagon.
Offering his take on the recently postponed clash between Paul and former heavyweight world champion ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, White slammed the matchup, noting under no circumstance should an almost 60-year-old man be allowed to fight a 27-year-old kid in his physical prime.
“When this fight happens Tyson will be 58 f*ckin’ years old. Under any circumstances, an almost 60-year-old man shouldn’t be fighting a 27-year-old guy under any circumstances… it’s just f*ckin’ ridiculous.”
He added, “Jake Paul’s 27, he’s in his f*ckin’ prime… and I love Mike. No one wants to see Mike get beat by this f*ckin’ jerkoff.”
Clearly, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation does not agree.
Originally, Paul vs. Tyson was scheduled to go down on July 20, but after the legendary pugilist suffered a medical emergency during a cross-country flight departing from Miami last month, the bout has been pulled from the schedule. A replacement date is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Watch the full episode below:
