While nothing is signed yet, Dana White has big plans for at least two more seasons of his struggling Power Slap League.
Sorry haters! Dana White’s Power Slap League isn’t going anywhere.
In a new interview with Pat McAfee to promote the Power Slap finals this weekend (Sat., March 11, 2023), White laid out his plans to keep the controversial league going for at least two more seasons. That’s despite the terrible ratings Power Slap has been generating for TBS, and the finale being downgraded last-minute from a pay-per-view (PPV) to free on YouTube alternative, Rumble.
“This thing has been incredibly successful,” White declared. “And I’ll announce this here with you guys: I’ve come to a two year deal for Slap — we haven’t done a deal yet but I have a term sheet with Rumble for the next two years to deliver two more episodes [seasons?] of the reality show Power Slap, and eight live fights.”
“And I’m working on a deal right now to film season two on Fight Island, in Abu Dhabi,” White added.
A return to Fight Island may not just be for the balmy weather. There seems to be some growing pressure on the Nevada Athletic Commission to revoke their sanctioning status for the sport after videos of Slap fighters getting KO’d and falling into fencing positions that indicate severe concussive damage.
“I made a mistake,” former NAC chairman Stephen J. Cloobeck said in an incredibly negative article from the Associated Press. “I’m not happy about it.”
You may remember Cloobeck from other Power Slap League articles where he asked UFC execuitve, Hunter Campbell, to, “Make sure no one dies.”
The last time pesky state regulators told White he wasn’t allowed to do something was during the COVID-19 pandemic. After holding off on holding shows for a few months, he packed up UFC and moved events to Abu Dhabi, which he dubbed “Fight Island.”
Now he may return to his home away from home, when home decides what he’s up to may be beyond the limits of legal liability.