Dana White‘s Power Slap League is once again under scrutiny after six of its competitors tested positive for banned substances.
From the moment it was announced, the UFC president’s latest pet project has been belittled by fight fans, calling it nothing more than “sanctioned brain trauma.” With the first season of the controversial series concluding in March, the backlash finally began to die down. That was until the Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed that multiple Power Slap “athletes” have tested positive for an assortment of performance-enhancing drugs.
NSAC chairman Anthony Marnell responded to the lengthy list of suspended athletes under the Power Slap banner.
“Is there like a big bowl of performance-enhancing drugs down there somewhere that I don’t know about?” Marnell commented. “I haven’t seen this in quite a while. I didn’t know you needed to use steroids to slap but I guess we’re going to find out.”
In 2022, the NSAC unanimously approved the regulation of slap fighting in the state, a decision that former commission chairman Stephen Cloobeck would later regret.
“I made a mistake,” Cloobeck said about his vote in a statement sent to the Associated Press. “I’m not happy about it.”
Nevada State Athletic Commission Reveals Six Power Slap Competitors Who Have Been Suspended
Six men have been slapped with temporary suspensions after testing positive for a plethora of banned substances. MMA Fighting has obtained a list of names and the performance-enhancing drugs they are accused of ingesting, which you can see below:
T.J. Thomas, who competed in a slap fighting bout on March 9, suspended after testing positive for clomiphene, a hormone and metabolic modulator
Jay Rivera, who competed in a slap fighting bout on March 11, suspended after testing positive for GW-1516, sulfone and sulfoxide, hormone and metabolic modulators
Chris Thomas, who competed in a slap fighting bout on March 11, suspended after testing positive for Buprenorphine, a narcotic and its metabolite norbuprenorphine. Buprenorphine is a medication used to treat opioid use disorder.
Andrew Provost, who competed in a slap fighting bout on March 11, suspended after testing positive for Buprenorphine, a narcotic and it’s metabolite norbuprenorphine
Isaih Quinones, who competed in a slap fighting bout on March 11, suspended after testing positive for Norandrosterone, drostanolone, tamoxifen and boldenone, which are anabolic steroids. His “A” sample was tested and showed “exogenous origin of testosterone.”
Frank Holland, who competed in a slap fighting bout on March 11, suspended after testing positive for phentermine, a stimulant that can be prescribed for weight loss.
The Nevada Athletic Commission suspended several Power Slap competitors.
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It’s another setback for Power Slap after dismal ratings during its first season on TBS convinced the network to decline a second-season option. Originally planning to air the March 11 finale on pay-per-view, Dana White was forced to move the event to Rumble, a little-known streaming service typically geared toward conservative-friendly news and content. Following the finale, White revealed his plan to film the next two seasons of Power Slap in Abu Dhabi with both eventually airing on Rumble.
“I’ve got a two-year deal with Rumble. The Abu Dhabi deal, we’re still working it out, but I’d love to do is two years with them too, do season 2 and season 3 over there,” said White at the Power Slap post-fight press conference.