Despite Taking an Almost Bankrupt UFC to the Forefront of Combat Sports, Dana White’s Latest Project Will Not Enjoy the Same Destiny as the $12.1 Billion Giant

The success of the UFC in the last 30 thirty years of its existence has seen Dana White become one of the biggest fight promoters in the world. Moreover, he recently launched his new promotion, a slap-fighting league called Power Slap. However, it does not seem like White’s new venture will be able to grow as big as the UFC.

Dana White seemed excited when he announced the launch of Power Slap. So far, the promotion has aired one season with eight episodes. However, it does not seem like it will make the same mark as the UFC. Let us take a look at a few reasons why.

Power Slap: medical concerns for the fighters

Professional medical experts have raised concerns about the risk of sustaining serious injuries because of Power Slap’s violence. The most significant concern involves the damage it can cause to the head due to the repetitive blows. Many neurologists have spoken against the sport of Power Slap. Meanwhile, one of the biggest critics of this sport has been Nitin Agarwal. He is a neuroscientist specializing in the study of brain injuries at the School of Medicine at Washington University.

In an interview with ‘The Washington Post’, Agarwal mentioned that every blow can cause a traumatic injury inside the brain. He said, “These people pass out from one blow. In reality… they suffered a traumatic brain injury.” Even politicians weighed in on this issue.

Congressional representative Bill Pascrell even tweeted out about his concerns regarding the sport. Calling Power Slap a “mindless violence,” The 86-year-old politician claimed that there is nothing entertaining about athletes getting brain damage.

The vice chairman of the neurological surgery at the University of California, Geoffrey Manley, also made his stance clear on slap-fighting. He told the ‘Times’ that when someone gets hit on the side of their head or even on the cheeks, there is a high probability of that person suffering from his brain twisting from the skull.

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It clearly looks like most medical experts are not in favor of Power Slap. Meanwhile, we will take a look at another reason why Power Slap will not go as far as the UFC.

Power Slap is struggling to gain respect as a ‘real sport’

There are many sports in the world in the 21st century. When it comes to combat sports, this category keeps increasing, with new kinds of disciplines becoming mainstream and commercial successes. However, many people are against viewing Power Slap as a legitimate sport. Moreover, some people claim that the sport is ridiculous since there is no way to train to learn how to slap someone.

The possibility of suffering injuries in the head is present in almost all combat sports. However, every form of combat sports has different techniques – for defense and for offense. But when it comes to Power Slap, there is no such thing as defense. Each fighter takes their turn to land a blow on the other and one of them has to stand still and not flinch and try to survive the slap.

This is one of the biggest criticisms of the sport that fighters have to absorb these dangerous blows to the head. Moreover, if these reasons aren’t enough to prove that Power Slap may not go as big as the UFC, then the next one might change your thoughts.

The dispute over viewership numbers

In an interview months ago, the UFC president-turned-CEO claimed to have had astonishing viewership numbers on social media and digital platforms. He claimed that Power Slap averaged around 10 million views on TikTok per post. In comparison to that, White claimed that WWE did 1.5 million, UFC did 770,000, and the NFL did 545,000. As such, he claimed that his new venture had surpassed many major sporting leagues. However, reports suggest that the first season of Power Slap: Road To The Title had underwhelming viewership numbers.

According to a report by ‘ShowBuzzDaily’, the end of Power Slap: Road To The Title’s eight-week run saw the show finish as the 106th-rated show on cable. Power Slap only pulled a 0.05 rating with 220,000 viewers on TBS. It bit the dust in the age group of 18-49, which was dominated by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The most viewed episode of the first season of Power Slap was the 2nd episode, which garnered over 413,000 viewers. However, it was one of the lowest-rated shows on the network.

It is still important to note that Power Slap is in its infancy stage. Similar to how the UFC struggled to gain momentum and credibility in its early days, Power Slap is seemingly dealing with the same issue. However, Dana White’s attempt to bring his UFC viewers to pay attention to his new venture seems unlikely to produce any positive results. We will have to wait and see what unfolds in the future.

What do you think about Power Slap? Drop your comments below.

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