Dana White Claims PowerSlap Achieved in 17 Months What Took UFC a Decade

Last year in 2023, Dana White launched America’s first official slap-fighting league and as of right now, his side promotion is among one of the most watched leagues in the country amassing more than 7 billion views! Speaking on ‘The Big Podcast’ alongside NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, the 51-year-old promoter revealed how PowerSlap has gotten past UFC after 17 months of its inception.

White has ambitions of turning it into a sport. He wants to put on some production value to the sport and get it sanctioned. Yes, Dana White wants to turn slapping into a real sport.

“I think this can be huge and the answer is 7 billion views! This thing has been around 17 months, its done over 7 billion views… Where Powerslap is right now in 17 months, it took the UFC 10 years to get there.”

The idea sparked in White’s mind when he was watching a local Russian barn fight on YouTube. A quick look at the numbers made the businessman rethink and that’s when he realized the immense potential it had.

Ramping up with bigger and state-of-the-art production crew, White introduced PowerSlap to the world in 2023 where two individuals take center stage and slap each other in turns until one goes down.

While the rules are simple, the sport is garnering a lot of views on social media, especially in Europe. In fact, earlier a few months ago, White claimed that the young league is slowly swallowing sporting majors like MLB, NASCAR & NHL in terms of popularity.

That said, do take this with a pinch of salt or a whole bucket of it. This is probably the newest business White wants to grow and sell, hence the hype. If fans have closely watched the UFC is the last few years, they know White does it for fighters when he oversells their credibility so that people at home buy tickets.

With that being said, once White laid out the facts and figures, even ‘Shaq’ wanted a piece action, proposing a slap match with him against his rival turned friend Charles Barkley.

‘Shaq’ vs Barkley in slap boxing

PowerSlap is a violent sport, no question about it but it is also not quite as bloody as cage fighting or boxing. The competitors here in this sport train differently and at the end of the day, it’s all about the chin – who can actually take a whipping slap on the chin? Now while White was divulging his thoughts about his brainchild, something popped inside ‘Shaq’ and he keyed in with a cheeky idea.

The four-time NBA champion called out Barkley to a match, saying,

“Charles Barkley, you against me on September 19th. I will slap the heck out of you.”

Chuckling to the veteran’s challenge, White played along, saying, “Superb,” endorsing the idea of the NBA veterans coming over to Power Slap for a dream match.

Charles Barkley doesn’t need brain damage, so hopefully he declines. And Shaq should only have violent interactions with Tesla products to see if they work.