Poorly Paid Power Slapper, Still Working 9 to 5, Makes a Big Confession Amid Dana White’s Aggressive Promotion

UFC President Dana White has once again found himself as a topic of discussion in the combat sports community regarding fighter’s compensation. But this time the athletes in question aren’t from the UFC roaster but White’s other venture, Power Slap. In the press conference held amidst the inaugural event of Power Slap 2, slapper Russel Rivero revealed he couldn’t train for his Slap-Fight with the champion Ayjay Hintz. The former Power Slap Light Heavyweight title challenger states his full-time job as the reason behind this. This statement comes as a response to a question asked about the fighter’s preparation for his title match. To this, Rivero replied:

“It’s been hard to train, I keep saying it but I work. Work is kind of heavy back home, so just do what you can, when you can. But the main thing is just go up there and do what you gotta do.”

The said bout which took place on May 24resulted in a loss for ‘Kainoa’ via DQ. Held at UFC Apex in Nevada, the event also saw Damien ‘The Bell’ Dibbell defending his Heavyweight title against ‘Wolverine’. Out of the nine fights featured on the card, only three resulted in a knockout. The event was streamed via the Rumble app, where it is still available free of cost.

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This statement has once again sparked a debate about whether Dana White is paying his fighters enough or not, considering they still need to work full-time instead of training. This is especially true in the case of brutal sports like Slap Fighting, which has been a matter of controversy ever since its inception. Most of the critics have shown their concern regarding the associated health hazards of participants who may be subject to conditions like Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) with several calls for a ban. Currently, Dana White pays $2000  of the base price to the participants for showing up at the Power Slap event.

Dana White Brought Back the Second Season of the Controversial Show Despite Setbacks

Dana White’s Power Slap is widely considered one of the most prominent promotions in the field of slap fighting. The show made its debut back in January with 8 pre-recorded episodes on TBS. However, soon the reality TV show became a subject of criticism and TBS ended its partnership before the second season. But despite the setbacks and political pressure, Dana was successful in reviving the show via ‘cancel culture proof’ Rumble app.

Dana’s struggle with the legal status of sports is nothing new. The promoter had previously gone through a similar situation over his premier MMA promotion UFC in its early days. However, unlike MMA, Slap Fighting lacks the wide support of the masses. Among the MMA community and outsiders alike, the sport remains a ‘dumb idea’. It would be interesting how far Dana could take his controversial promotion with all the backlash around the sport.

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