Dana White has revealed the official rules of his new Power Slap league.
UFC president Dana White is continuing to grow his combat sports enterprise. After twenty years in the UFC making it one of the most popular sports organizations on the planet, White, along with early UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta, is creating a new combat sports promotion. White announced last month that he is starting a slap-fighting promotion called Power Slap.
Immediately there was pushback from many people as the concept of people slapping each other unconscious seems brutal. White held a press conference during UFC 281 fight week in NYC to explain his new business and assure the fans that the sport will be regulated and safety precautions will be taken.
“I’m really into this,” White said via MMA Junkie. “I like it. The other thing is, this stuff is going on. I know when we announced this, there were a lot of concerns about health and safety with some guys. Us getting involved guarantees that it’s going to be much safer.”
White stated that there will be weight classes similar to MMA, although the exact weights have not been announced. The Nevada State Athletic Commission approved the regulation of the sport in October.
Dana White revealed the official rules for Power Slap Leauge
Included in the details from White’s press conference were the rules for the new combat sports league. They include:
- Bouts will be either three or five rounds.
- Competitors will alternate slaps or “strikes” as they are called officially.
- Each fighter will get the same amount of “strikes,” unless one fighter is deemed unable to continue.
- A coin toss determines which competitor goes first.
- Flinching, blocking, or delaying the match are considered fouls.
- Each fighter will disclose which hand they will use prior to the slap.
- Each fighter will disclose their “count,” the number of windups or aims they will pump before their strike.
The two people involved in the bout have been called “fighters” although they are different than the fighters MMA fans are used to seeing. The person throwing the slap is called the “striker.” The person taking the shot is called the “defender. The sport is still young and although many concerns still exist, White has done his best to alleviate some of the doubts.
“A lot of these questions that you guys have, the media, fans, potential fans have, will be answered in this eight-part series that we’re doing,” he said. “These guys who have been doing it for a long time, there actually is technique to it. You can actually roll with the slap. They know how to actually defend, brace, whatever you want to call it. There’s actually technique to this thing – believe it or not.”
Over the past year or so slap fighting has grown in popularity on social media and now it seems the UFC chief is taking advantage of the rise in interest.
