Bill Burr’s name is nowhere to be found on the list of celebrities endorsing Dana White’s new Power Slap League,
The premier slap-fighting promotion in North America has officially debuted on TBS as of Jan. 18, 2023. Backed by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) akin product hasn’t been welcomed with open arms.
Several celebrities took to social media after the first of eight episodes aired last week, but for the popular comedian, Burr — a watcher of all sports — this just isn’t one he can get behind.
“The only thing I will say that I’m not a fan of is this new slap fight s—t that people are doing,” Burr said on The Monday Morning Podcast (h/t Dan Tom). “I just think nowadays with all the knowledge that we have about concussions and CTE and all of that … to just sit there and let somebody slap you that hard across the f—king face.
“Like, how many times can you honestly do that?” he continued. “You look at NFL enforcers and the amount of headshots those guys take and they’re trying to prevent it. Here’s one for ya, I don’t think there’s a professional fighter out there that says that they would do that for a living. Just for the simple fact that you have to let yourself get hit that hard and you can’t defend, you can’t move your head or anything, you have to just stand there. I just feel like that’s taking advantage of people that need money (laughs). I don’t know why else you would want to do that.”
It was revealed yesterday (Mon., Jan. 23, 2023) by former UFC Middleweight and TUF 23 alum, Eric Spicely, that he was offered a spot in the competition on a $2,000 to show and $2,000 to win contract. Per MMA Fighting, Spicely indicated that he assumed the contracts were similar to TUF, whereas fighters progress they $2,000 more per fight, totaling out at $10,000 in this case.