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After one season on TBS Dana White’s Power Slap League will not be returning for a second season. TBS did not ask for a renewal of the series after the season finale had aired on March 8. The Power Slap display will now move to the app Rumble.

UFC president Dana White sounds very proud to be putting his Power Slap League on the app Rumble. In an interview with The Pat McAfee Show, White said:

“I’ve come to a two-year deal for [Power Slap]. We haven’t done the deal yet but we have a term sheet. I have a term sheet with Rumble for the next two years to deliver two more episodes of the reality show, Power Slap, and eight live fights, and I’m working on a deal right now to film season 2 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.” [Transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting]

Dana White’s Power Slap League ratings for season 1

On TBS, Dana White’s Power Slap League in season 1 had less than impressive ratings. The season finale was able to pull 220,000 viewers which is a 0.05 rating in its target demographic.

International media have not been impressed with the show citing how dangerous it is to a person’s brain health. Reading comments on any social media post, MMA fans were not more receptive often stating how it is not a sport.

In the end, Dana White was proud of his ratings and what he had produced. During a press conference, he said:

“There was a lot of criticism about the TV ratings. People are so full of s— it’s f—ing — first off, what do any of these people know about TV ratings, number one. And like I told ya, the thing averaged 375,000 viewers on TBS with zero advertising from the network. Zero. We held 50 percent of the AEW (All Elite Wrestling) audience.” [Transcript courtesy of MMA Mania]

Dana White’s Power Slap League continues to receive a rigorous round of criticism from people who watch it. Recently US Congressmen Bill Pascrell Jr. and Don Bacon weighed in on the situation.

New Jersey’s Ninth District Representative Bill Pascrell Jr. and Nebraska’s Second District Representative Don Bacon penned a letter to TBS and Warner Bros, in regards to the dangers of Dana White‘s Power Slape League.

See the full letter below:

On Twitter, they added:

“Today @RepDonBacon and I are asking TBS and Warner Bros about their crass new TV show “The Power Slap” glorifying terrible violence. Where are the warnings to this mindless violence? Traumatic brain injury isn’t entertainment.”

Dana White’s Power Slap League and Brain Damage

US Congressmen are not the only people to levy criticism towards the sport. Worldwide slap leagues have been condemned and needlessly dangerous. Polish slap fighter Artur Walczak died after being hospitalized post a slap match.

Neurologist Dr. Nitin Sethi spoke with IB.TV and laid out what kind of injuries would be common in Dana White’s Power Slap League. The Neurologist explained:

“Open-handed slaps delivered with such force to the opponent’s face frequently cause the person’s legs to buckle, at times suffer momentary – sometimes longer – loss of consciousness, and collapse to the floor. These are all concussive injuries of varying duration. The ‘athlete’ who is on the receiving end of the slap has no option available to him to defend himself. These ‘slaps’ will add up. In my professional opinion, those who partake in this ‘sport’ will also suffer the stigmata of chronic neurological injuries.”

Dr. Nitin Sethi continued regarding Power Slap League:

“I disagree with the argument that better medical supervision of this ‘sport’ shall make it safer. I am not sure what a physician is meant to supervise here other than being the overseer of concussive injuries occurring under his or her watch.”

The controversial Dana White’s Power Slap League premiered on January 18 on TBS and the ratings have just been made public.

According to Nielsen Ratings System, Dana White’s Power Slap League held an average viewership for the hour broadcast of 295,000. This is a 0.10 rating for its target demographic. For the evening overall, it was the 45th most popular show on television.

Power Slap also had a significant lead-in. AEW was right before Power Slap and held an average of 969,000 for the two-hour broadcast, resulting in a 0.31 rating.

For January 18, in the 10:00 time slot, Dana White’s Power Slap League was beat by 1000-LB Best Friends on TLC, The Ingram Angle on Fox, and First Take on ESPN.

Dana White’s Power Slap League

Dana White and the UFC have been pushing Power Slap League on reluctant fans. The sport has been met with a lukewarm welcome. It’s premiere was pushed back one week on TBS from the original day of January 11. Potentially due to the fallout of Dana White being caught on camera slapping his wife on New Years Eve.

It is not just been fans and media who have been cool to Power Slap, experts also do not like it due to how much damage it can cause. Chris Nowinski, Ph.D, a neuroscientist and expert on concussions and CET, shared on Twitter:

“This is so sad. Note the fencing posture with the first brain injury. He may never be the same. [Dana White] & [TBS Network] should be ashamed. Pure exploitation. What’s next, “Who can survive a stabbing”?”

Dana White’s Power Slap League appears to be dead in the water before it could even premier. Reportedly, Power Slap League has been removed from TBS’s scheduled programming and official website.

The news comes shortly after a video was made public of UFC president Dana White slapping his wife, Anne, on New Year’s Eve.

Power Slap League was set to premiere on January 11. An image on Twitter is floating around showing the expected schedule for TBS’s upcoming planned programming:

Conflicting reports on canceling Dana White’s Power Slap League

On Twitter, journalists are struggling to put together what is happening behind the scenes at TBS. No official word from Dana White or Warner Media has been released. The story began with a report from MMA journalist Damon Martin who shared:

“Dana White’s Power Slap League has been removed from the TBS programming schedule ahead of its expected launch on Jan. 11. The Power Slap page was also removed from the TBS website Warner Media has not responded to multiple messages asking for comment.”

A few hours later, Martin updated the story to say that the promotional premiere has simply been pushed back. He posted:

“UFC now saying Power Slap League will still air on TBS — the debut is being pushed to Jan. 18. Warner Media still silent on the whole situation. No comment from them and Power Slap hasn’t appeared on the programming schedule just yet.”

Journalist Jeremy Botter came out with an opposing view rumored to have come from a TBS insider. He shared:

“A Warner Media source tells me Dana White’s Power Slap series is no longer listed on any internal programming schedules and all ad spots have been dropped. The death of the deal, I’m told, is basically just paperwork at this point.”

Dana White’s Power Slap League received a poor reception from the media and fans when it was announced. Since then, fans have not warmed to the promotion. With controversial news of Dana Slapping his spouse, it would make sense that TBS was looking to distance itself from such dissension.