Joe Rogan reveals Dana White’s biggest ‘f*** up’ after the UFC boss IGNORED podcaster’s advice
Joe Rogan has claimed that Dana White ‘f***ed up’ by creating Power Slap.
White first announced Power Slap in late 2022, saying at a press conference he had watched slapping videos on social media and thought it would make great TV.
Since it’s introduction, however, the ‘sport’ has not taken off in the way which White imagined – with many suggesting that the actions can cause brain damage.
However, White has stood by his decision and even claimed that Power Slap has ‘more followers than every single professional sport’, before later backpedaling.
Now, Rogan, who has worked closely with White as a UFC commentator in 1997, has admitted that the combat sports chief made a mistake by creating Power Slap.
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, he said: ‘I think the UFC f***ed up when they went with slap fighting. I’ve been telling them forever, ‘You guys should get into kickboxing’.
Joe Rogan (right) revealed Dana White’s biggest career ‘f*** up’ on a recent podcast
Rogan insisted that White should not have created his breakaway competition Power Slap
‘If you only like stand-up fights, it’s not like the old days of kickboxing, where they were boring. The knockouts are f***ing crazy.
‘Kickboxing with MMA gloves in a cage would be giant. Just have a striking-only segment of the UFC. Glory’s got some elite fighters.
‘I watch Glory all the time. It’s exciting, but nobody’s watching it. Nobody knows who these people are.’
In Power Slap, competitors stand across from each other and wind up to deliver an open-handed slap across their opponent’s cheek.
Male and female competitors from across the globe travel to Nevada, where the state’s Athletic Commission regulates the league, and are split into weight groups.
Much like boxing, the ultimate aim is to knock out your opponent. In the absence of a KO, the victor is determined by a points system that rewards the ‘damage and effectiveness’ of a strike, as well as for the ‘reaction and recovery’ of the defender.
Combatants are obliged to wear a mouthguard and place cotton buds in their ears but are allowed no further protective equipment. Nor may they apply any ‘balms, lotions or oils’ aside from regulation chalk.
The promotion launched in 2022 and was due to premiere on January 11, 2023 – however was delayed after White was seen slapping his wife on New Year’s Eve.
White has consistently hit back at criticisms over Power Slap in recent years
Back in October, Luke Griggs, CEO of leading UK brain injury charity Headway, described face-slapping as ‘an incredibly dangerous craze which should never be classified as a sport’.
Griggs fears that the growing popularity of face-slapping in the UK – largely prompted by viral videos of fighters being knocked out – will lead to reckless imitation by children and young teenagers, whose brains are yet to fully develop.
‘It’s ludicrous to suggest that this is not extremely dangerous to every participant who takes part,’ Griggs argues. ‘Every time you’re struck in the head, your brain rattles inside your skull causing injury, the results of which can be devastating and last a lifetime.’
He adds: ‘I genuinely believe that this is something the government needs to intervene on as a public health issue. It is irresponsible to portray slap fighting as anything less than an incredibly dangerous fad.’
