Many fans think that Dana White should stop trying to make Power Slap happen, it’s not going to happen, as the meme goes. The UFC CEO, of course, is trying hard to make his controversial slap-fighting league a hit. But combat sports fans aren’t buying it. Nor are some of his own friends.
The UFC CEO went on his favorite, ‘Full Send’ podcast hosted by his friends Kyle Foregeard and Bob Menery. While Menery and Foregeard’s relationship had been on the rocks last year with even talks of a lawsuit, he is back on the podcast and doing what he does best- annoying Dana White.
The latest example of him getting on the UFC CEO’s nerves came as Menery had the gall to call Power Slap repetitive and boring. “I watch match one and its the same. I watch match two and its the same. I watch match three and its the same. Somebody gets slapped in the face and they’re done, and I watched a fourth, someone gets slapped in the face and they’re done,” he told the UFC CEO.
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White, of course, didn’t like this one bit, and came to the defense of his beloved pet project, as was expected. What really raised eyebrows, however, was the Las Vegas resident comparing Power Slap to MMA and boxing, feeling that boxing especially was just as predictable and repetitive as slap fighting.
“So what happens when you watch a fight? Let’s say a boxing match. Boxing which has been popular for a hundred years, what’s different [from Power Slap]?” White said.
Dana White, of course, had founded America’s first slap-fighting promotion in 2022 along with support from his Zuffa partners and close friends, the Fertitta brothers. Since then, while the sport has undoubtedly garnered a lot of attention, most of it has been negative.
Dana White’s back on podcasts—Is he just stirring the pot or making valid points on boxing?
Fight fans even refuse to acknowledge it as a combat sport, while medical professionals have rung alarm bells over the potential for long-term brain damage and CTE for the athletes. This is why, predictably, Dana White’s defense of Power Slap and comparing it to boxing didn’t go down well with fans, at all.
Fans outraged at Dana White comparing Power Slap to MMA and boxingOne fan felt that Bob Menery, whatever his other flaws, was totally on the money on this subject and told Dana White what he needed to hear about Power Slap: “He cooked. Let’s be real lmao.”
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Another felt that Menery’s callout would reinvigorate the UFC CEO’s recent disdain for podcasts, which had started when he stormed off Howie Mandel’s podcast earlier this year: “Dana White is going back on podcast strike”
One fan took great exception to White comparing slapfighting to boxing, which has infinitely more variables, styles, and allows the fighters to defend themselves unlike Power Slap: “Dana acting like boxing doesn’t have styles that make match ups lol why does he take criticism so badly lol”
Another agreed completely with this sentiment and felt that Power Slap was like watching a crash- you don’t want to look, but cannot bring yourself to look away because of a morbid fascination: “Boxing? It’s more like watching Car crash videos.”
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Another fan also called out White for comparing Power Slap, perhaps the least respected combat sport, to the prestigious and wildly popular sports of boxing and MMA: “Dana comparing it to a ufc fight or boxing is ridiculous.”
What are your thoughts on the comparisons between Power Slap and boxing? Do you think this discourse will cause a crack in White’s friendship with Menery? Let us know in the comments.
Source : EssentiallySports