One of the most controversial sports in the world, PowerSlap appears to have given Dana White a substantial return. The UFC CEO is all in on the sport. White even states that PowerSlap would go on to surpass UFC in terms of popularity in the future, “This will be bigger than the UFC.” Well, the UFC CEO and Lorenzo Fertitta are heavily invested in the project but what about Ari Emanual? Well, according to Dana White, Emanual’s small investment in the sport is the reason for his disappointment.

Slappin͏g as a ͏s͏port may not s͏ee͏m ͏d͏esi͏rable f͏rom a ͏busi͏ness perspec͏ti͏ve, but͏͏ when ͏͏so͏meone like ͏Dana White ta͏kes an intere͏st in it͏, it͏ can quickl͏͏͏y tur͏n into something v͏aluable.͏ Regardless, the UFC CEO in his latest escapade gave us a sneak peek of the profitability of PowerSlap and asserted why Emanual is regretting less investment in the business.

Dana White talks about Ari Emanual’s regret over limited investment in PowerSlap

A͏ri Emanual is the man who oversees the operations that are going on around TKO Holdings, the parent company of WWE and UFC. The entertainment behemoth and Dana White share a close relationship as partners as well as friends. In one of his recent escapades, the UFC CEO shared a story where he was initially starting the PowerSlap and required investment for it.

The UFC CEO emphasized that he and Lorenzo were heavily bullish on it but Emanual had second thoughts about making any money out of the league, “So I get those guys to invest in me, and I said, “Listen, I like this slap fighting thing. I said I wanted to do it. Are you in?” Lorenzo was like, “We’re in,” and we invested a couple of million bucks each at the time. Ari, you know, former WME, my partner now in the UFC, he’s not feeling it.”

He further added, “So, he could have come in for as much as he wanted, but he comes in for 12%. Okay, so Ari’s in for 12%. Everybody kicks their money in. Put it this way: Ari has 12%, and they’ve already made like 9 to 10 million of that 12% investment from Power Slap. You know what I mean? He’s kicking himself in the a**”.

PowerSlap has only broadcasted eight events till now and to grow at such a pace in such a short period is a huge achievement in itself so how did the promotion earn revenue out of it? Well, according to the UFC CEO, PowerSlap is getting sponsorships from everywhere, “In nine months I have an unbelievable amount of sponsors. I haven’t said this publicly, this is a $450 million business,” said White. Regardless. it must be noted that Ari Emanual did his best to make sure the business runs smoothly, how you ask? Let’s find out.

Executive reveals how Ari Emanual saved PowerSlap

When Dana White initially started PowerSlap, no one was interested in broadcasting a slapping competition on their platform. However, it was Ari Emanuel and Craig Piligian, who got the CEO and president of Warner Bros, David Zaslav to save the sport once and for all. A close aide to the CEO of Warner Bros revealed the background conversation between the heavyweights of the entertainment industry.

“But if it’s something he wants, money’s no object… Nobody wanted it [Power Slap] — and, by the way, we knew we were going to get grief for canceling shows in order to put on people slapping each other, but David wanted it, so we did it,” said the executive in a conversation with the Hollywood reports.

As of now, the UFC CEO is doing his best to make sure that the sport emerges as one of the biggest new sports around the world but will he be able to succeed in it? We don’t know. Regardless, what’s your take on the hubbub? State your thoughts in the comments below.