Dana White has responded to the backlash of his Power Slap League.
The UFC-associated slap-fighting league has received tons of negative feedback since launching. Earlier this month, former UFC fighter Eric Spicely revealed that he was offered $2k to show and another $2k if he won. Since Spicely’s claims, the Power Slap backlash has been refueled, including one fan on Instagram saying:
“Road to the title” where you get 2k/2k and maybe 10k/10k if you win it all”
The UFC president is tired of people discrediting his newest business venture. He’s been consistently responding to fans on Instagram, including this comment towards the quote above:
“How MMA started too. Boxing undercards make this kind of money still. Educate yourself before u open the YAP.”
White continues to compare the slap-fighting backlash to the adversity he faced when purchasing the UFC and making MMA mainstream. Although the UFC president deserves respect for growing the sport of MMA, he’s still not accepting that there is a major difference between cage-fighting and slap-fighting: the latter doesn’t allow a fighter to defend themselves.
Dana White responding to IG account about Power Slap pay. pic.twitter.com/HzGcHUbwSk
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) January 30, 2023
Is Dana White benefiting from the Power Slap backlash?
Dana White’s Power Slap League has received negative publicity from fighters, media members, and other celebrities. The question is, does the slap-fighting promotion benefit from people continuing to discuss the controversial topic?
Slap-fighting became popular from social media interactions, including short clips of fighters being knocked unconscious going viral. It wouldn’t be shocking if White’s primary selling point on the Power Slap League to investors was providing eye-opening data on the traffic driven towards other promotions worldwide.
Therefore, the Power Slap League could be benefiting from people consistently posting negative reviews on social media, which could provide reasoning for the increase in viewership between episodes 1 and 2.
Dana White's 'Power Slap' jumped to 413,000 viewers in its follow-up on TBS — nearly a 30% improvement over its debut.
The slap-fighting league pulled a 1.3 rating. pic.twitter.com/KRdBXBbfZU
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 27, 2023
According to ShowBuzzDaily, episode 1 was viewed by 295,000 viewers, which was disappointing, to say the least. Meanwhile, episode 2 had a spike in viewership, with 413,000 tuning in. If these numbers continue to grow, the backlash won’t stop the Power Slap League as it’s inexpensive compared to most other TBS productions due to the events being hosted in the UFC APEX and fighters being underpaid.
Nice to see Dana White taking the criticisms of his power slap pish well. pic.twitter.com/832bYSD6tg
— Colin Barr (@Barr66) January 26, 2023
