Will Smith joke cue: UFC’s highly infamous president Dana White has the green light for his new venture, the Power Slap League.
Much remains uncertain about the new league, but slap battles pretty much sound like it: two people face each other and alternately slap the sides of their heads with their open hands.
The Nevada Athletic Commission voted last week to oversee a slap league in Las Vegas known for its carefully considered decisions.
A video from one competition this year, the Slap Fighting Championship, shows some pretty brutal direct contact, but the recipient stands there to receive it. Some blows lead to knockouts. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who sat on the sidelines, said:
UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell said his team spent a year working with committee officials to develop rules for the league, which was built on mixed martial arts (MMA) rules. “Moving into regulation before the sport even starts makes sense globally for all the obvious reasons. Number one is the health and safety of the athletes,” he told ESPN. told to Safety rules include requirements for protective equipment such as mouthguards and earplugs, and rules about which parts of the face can be slapped. Campbell and his officials also called for blood tests, brain scans and on-site medical staff.
But even MMA enthusiasts seem to have serious concerns.
Key concern: “It’s all offense, not defense,” writes Trent Reinsmith on the UFC news site Bloody Elbow. In his Substack the Fighting Life, journalist Ben Fowlkes describes the sport as “a 13-year-old boy.” What you can get if you let people invent new sports.”
CBS Combat Sports Analyst Luke Thomas tweeted: I have written: “If boxing is about hitting and not getting hit, then slap fighting is the opposite, where being hit is specially arranged and done without impediment.” Pretty shameless.” Simon Samano of USA Today Posted: “It could be kicking each other with nuts.”
Slap fights have existed in many forms over the years. It was ridiculed on Fox Sports until the early 2000s. But with the help of a viral video, it gained popularity early in the pandemic. He died in hospital the following month after being knocked out several times in the event and placed in a medically-induced coma, Reinsmith said.
White himself has been the subject of much controversy. He told fighters paying for the UFC to “shut up and fight” and backed the organization’s decision to feature former NFL player Greg Hardy, who was convicted of domestic violence, but after an appeal. The charges have been dropped. He is an avid supporter of Donald Trump and spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Campbell said the Power Slap League hopes to have a “major broadcast partner” by the end of the year. It has not yet been decided when the slaps will begin.
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