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UFC president Dana White's Power Slap League recently aired its first episode, much to the excitement and ire of many within the combat sports community. Slap-fighting is a controversial sport at the moment because it involves voluntarily taking hits to the face.
These days, it doesn't take a medical expert to understand the long-term effects of taking repeated strikes to the head or face. However, White assured fans that his brand of slap-fighting "will be much safer" as the sport continues to evolve and move into the future. The UFC president had an exchange with sports writer Zain Bando about making the sport much safer, who then tweeted screenshots of the exchange.
Check out the tweet by Zain Bando below:
The caption of the tweet read:
"Dana White tells me and many others that as season one of [Power Slap League] goes on, the sport will become 'much safer' and that more people will begin to understand how it actually works. I can't say that I'm not excited for episode two, because I am."
Inspired by Russian and Eastern European slap-fighting competitions, UFC president Dana White started his own promotion called Power Slap League. The idea for the slap-fighting promotion was conceived by Shiaffo LLC - a venture that is collectively managed by Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC COO Lawrence Epstein, and TUF producer Craig Piligian.
When Dana White first made the announcement, there was an outcry from the MMA community, with many slamming the idea. Fight analyst Luke Thomas called the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) "shameless" for sanctioning the petition put forward by Shiaffo LLC.
Combat sports editor for USATODAYSports Simon Samano called the sport a 'freak show and a money grab', going as far as saying that they 'might as well let them kick each other in the n*ts.'
Check out episode one of Power Slap League:
When Dana White was ironically filmed slapping his wife
It's a bit ironic that White ended up slapping his wife in a nightclub after starting his own promotion centered around slap-fighting. All jokes aside, the UFC president found himself in a bit of controversy after exchanging slaps with his wife Anne White at a New Year's party.
The news was first broken by TMZ Sports, who obtained footage of the altercation between White and his spouse of 26 years. According to witnesses, the couple was highly intoxicated leading up to the moment.
White and his wife were in the VIP section on the floor above when the incident happened. He leaned over to say something to his wife after which she slapped him. Dana White responded with one of his own.
The UFC president was quite embarrassed while speaking about the incident and said the following:
"You've heard me say for years, 'There's never ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman,' and now here I am on TMZ talking about it."
