“It’s Absolutely Deja VU”- Dana White Compares Slap League Criticisms to Early Backlash Against UFC

The UFC president, Dana White, has proven several times that criticism from the media and fans cannot affect him at all. There is no doubt that White is the most powerful pillar of the world’s biggest MMA promotion. The Manchester-born has worked from fingers to the bone to build the UFC empire, ever since he stepped inside the promotion. It is evident that along with the UFC, the president also grew tremendously. In 2019, his net worth was estimated at $500 million.

Nonetheless, White was never ready to shrink his business brain to just the UFC. He went on experimenting more in the combat sports field. As a result, the power slap league aired on TBS. However, the show tanked in the premiere, and even the following weeks were not very promising. The show was heavily criticized by fans, MMA fighters, and the media. Nonetheless, this never shook the UFC king as for him “it’s f*ucking deja vu.”

Dana White claims it was the same when he started the UFC

In a YouTube video uploaded to ‘My Mom’s Basement’ channel, the interviewer, Robbie Fox, asked White if he felt the reaction the power slap league is now receiving is similar to what it was when he started UFC. As an answer, White said “It’s f**king deja vu. It’s exactly the same. There’s no difference between it.” 

The 53-year-old further compared how the crowd and media treated UFC in the initial days and how the Power Slap League is undergoing the same.

READ MORE: Dana White’s Slap League Debut Tanks Despite Major Push From AEW

He added, “You know, all the media talking about, this is horrible, this is disgusting, this should never happen. You know all these guys that want to act like they’re big UFC f*cking guys. Nobody was touching this sh*t back in the day, nobody would write about it, and nobody took us seriously. Nobody said that this would ever be a real sport. It’s absolutely deja vu, I love this sh*t. This is what I love, you know.”

Can Power Slap be a promising sport?

‘Power Slap: Road to the Title’ airs on TBS every Wednesday at 10 p.m. Even after getting a significant push from the AEW Dynamite, some of the episodes of the show failed to garner a huge number of viewers. The premiere of Power Slap was only able to gather 295,000 views.

Furthermore, the show was scrutinized for the brutality it showcases. Some of the fans and MMA fighters were not able to accept how a contender cannot defend when his opponent attacks him. At the moment, the majority do not believe that slapping as a sport has a promising future.

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