Dana White has defended his new Power Slap League after facing scrutiny about fighter pay. The UFC President is said to pay each participating slap fighter $2,000 per fight. White’s new venture has already caused massive controversy, given the recent footage of the UFC Kingpin slapping his wife in a nightclub on New Year’s Eve.
Dana White Defends Power Slap Fighter Pay
Dana White’s new initiative, Power Slap League, has been heavily criticised since the day it began. The MMA mogul has caused a huge stir with fans after announcing he would be promoting slap fighting.
The aim in slap fighting is to knock your opponent out with a slap to the face. Each competitor takes it in turns until one fighter wins. One of the main reasons it has caused controversy is due to the fact a fighter is taking a blow to the head without any forms of defence.
When it first started out, Power Slap didn’t gain any real taction in terms of response. However, after videos from the debut Power Slap event went viral, several high-profile people began to publicly criticise White’s new slap league.
One man who was offered to compete in Power Slap is former UFC fighter Eric Spicely. Spicely revealed on Twitter that he was contacted to do Power Slap, but turned it down. He also went on to add that fans would be shocked at how little fighters were paid.
His tweet read:
“I was contacted to do slap league, you guys would be shocked at how much it pays.”
The 36-year-old went on to confirm he was offered $2,000 to take part in Power Slap and would earn another $2,000 if he was able to win his first bout.
One Instagram user mocked White and his pay structure, with a comment that read, “‘Road to the title’ where you get 2k/2k and maybe 10k/10k if you win it all.”
The UFC kingpin was quick to hit back, commenting ,”How MMA started too. Boxing undercards make this kind of money still. Educate yourself before u open the YAP.”
Power Slap has continued to receive vast amounts of criticism after some videos went viral of a man convulsing on the canvas following a blow to the face, as well as a women rolling about the floor after being viciously knocked out.
So now White seems to be getting criticism for the pay of Power Slap fighters as well as the general rules and regulations of his new sporting initiative.
He has however insisted that he plans on making the sport safer. How he does this we don’t know, but it seems that White is highly invested in Power Slap and is keen to make it a worldwide sport.
Who knows what is next for Power Slap League. However, one thing for sure is that it is drawing eyeballs. Whether that be for the right reasons or not, it is gathering momentum.
