Dana White finally premiered his latest endeavor, Power Slap, to the world on 18 January. The first episode of Power Slap: Road to the Title drew around 295,000 views on average during its runtime. After its premiere, UFC middleweight veteran Eric Spicely sent out a Tweet criticizing the payout received by Power Slap competitors.
He revealed that Power Slap made him a verbal offer to compete in the open-palm striking competition. And the remuneration he was apparently offered was appalling. Spicely revealed that he was offered $2000 to show up and another $2000 if he won his bout. In follow-up texts to MMA Fighting, Spicely verified that he declined the Power Slap deal and never received a contract either.
UFC veteran Eric Spicely said he was contacted to see if he’d like to participate in the Power Slap League. Not sure what the full pay scale is, but this nugget caught my attention: pic.twitter.com/Qlej95KmJs
— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) January 23, 2023
The Ultimate Fighter contestant said that this situation was similar to the show where contestants received small raises for wins. According to Eric’s estimation, the contract covered three slap fights during the film. In his approximation, the total payout for the winner of the competition would be around $10,000.
This does not seem to be ideal remuneration for someone whose jobs entail taking repeated, unprotected strikes to the head. The slap-fighting league is regulated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and they do disclose salaries to the NSAC. However, the commission does not publicly disclose salaries after the update to their regulations in 2020.
Power Slap first episode: viewership numbers
When Power Slap was announced by Dana White, it seemed as if no one was more excited about this venture than him. The MMA world was mostly divided by the announcement. Some were excited about a new kind of combat sport in the form of slap fighting. However, others were concerned about the repercussions of absorbing so many unprotected strikes to the head.
This underwhelming response continued to show in the viewership of Power Slap’s first episode. On the 18th of the show’s pilot episode averaged only 295,000 viewers on TBS. On that same Wednesday, AEW Dynamite drew in around 969,000 viewers on TBS. And this wasn’t even the best night in terms of viewership for the professional wrestling promotion.
Despite being on the same network, AEW brought in more than thrice the viewership of Power Slap’s first episode. A negative sentiment exists around the show due to controversies surrounding it.
Dana White, the man behind the project was subjected to widespread criticism and outrage after an incident involving his wife. The format of the sport also raises concerns. Many are worried about the potential dangers of unprotected headshots like CTE.
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