The request for the March 11 Power Slap event does not specifically call for a PPV event
In late January, a report surfaced that at the conclusion of the eight-week TBS season of Power Slap: Road to the Title, there would be a Power Slap pay-per-view event staged at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. On Saturday, UFC president Dana White tweeted that the Power Slap event on that date would stream for free on Rumble.
This has left people speculating about why their plans seemingly changed from a pay-per-view to a free stream. Was PPV actually the plan though?
#PowerSlap1 Finale will be LIVE and FREE only on @rumblevideo on March 11th at 9pmET pic.twitter.com/pVwoPYna4N
— danawhite (@danawhite) February 26, 2023
In researching the report of a potential Power Slap PPV event at the UFC Apex, Bloody Elbow went back and looked at the requests the UFC makes to the Nevada State Athletic Commission on looking for approval of a fight card. We also found the request that was made for the March 11 Power Slap event.
Here is the request Schiaffo LLC made for the Power Slap event according to the NSAC agenda for the February meeting:
“Request by Schiaffo LLC, for a program permit to promote a professional slap fighting event, to be held on March 11, 2023, at UFC Apex, in Las Vegas, NV, to be televised on multiple platforms (TBC), for possible action.”
Compare that with the UFC request for a pay-per-view event from the January NSAC meeting agenda:
“Request by Zuffa LLC, (UFC) for a program permit to promote a professional mixed martial arts event, to be held on March 4, 2023, at T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, NV, to be televised on ESPN Networks, and PPV, pending renewal of 2023 license, for possible action.”
Here is what the UFC request looks like, also from the January NSAC meeting agenda, for a non-PPV card:
“Request by Zuffa LLC, (UFC) for a program permit to promote a professional mixed martial arts event, to be held on March 11, 2023, at Virgin Hotel, in Las Vegas, NV, to be televised on ESPN Networks, pending renewal of 2023 license, for possible action.
While the TBC (to be confirmed) leaves the door open to the question of a possible Power Slap PPV card, without confirmation from the UFC or Schiaffo LLC, it is hard to say with 100 percent certainty that Schiaffo LLC ever planned a Power Slap PPV card for March 11.