DUBAI: From a YouTube curiosity to an organized combat sport owned by no less an organization than Dana White’s Ultimate Fighting Championship, Power Slap has now made its way to the Middle East.
For those unfamiliar with these viral online clips, Power Slap is exactly what it sounds like — two contestants stand face to face and slap each other, and the last man standing wins.
And on Thursday, as part of Abu Dhabi Showdown Week 2024 (which culminates with UFC 308 on Oct. 26) Space42 Arena will host the region’s first Power Slap contest between two of the sport’s biggest names — Da Crazy Hawaiian and Dumpling.
Power Slap president Frank Lamicella told Arab News: “Dana has talked about this a lot, but the history of Power Slap is about five (or) six years ago, we started seeing these clips on YouTube, slap fighting clips. It was very disorganized.
“These clips were doing like 300 million views. This was around 2018. And I think it’s kind of come full circle, because the first guy that Dana ever watched in these clips was Dumpling, who’s in our Super Heavyweight Championship fight.”
While the sport’s development was halted by the global pandemic, Lamicella and UFC still had big plans.
“We got a group together and we basically ran a pilot out of the Apex. We ran about 30 matches, wrote the rules, worked on the production, really dialed in the whole sport. Then the first thing we did was got it regulated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. And here we are,” he said.
Eight events later, Power Slap moved to Durango Casino for this year’s Super Bowl weekend, which was “a huge hit.”
“And now we’re at Fountain Blue in Las Vegas,” said Lamicella. “We did an event during International Fight Week this year. And right after that, we signed a five-event extension with Fountain Blue. They’ll be our home in Las Vegas for Power Slap events.”
Next up, though, is Space42 Arena in Al-Raha: “Obviously super excited to bring the first event to Abu Dhabi. We’ve had a longstanding relationship with the Department of Culture and Tourism and Abu Dhabi, and we’re really excited to add it to Showdown Week.”
From modest early viewing numbers, Power Slap audiences have grown rapidly.
Lamicella said: “This is what we’re super excited about, now we’re able to travel the show. We started at Apex probably around 300-400 people, invite only. We didn’t sell any tickets for the first four or five events. And then we started selling just VIP packages, which sold out immediately. And then we saw that fans were interested in coming to the event.”
He continued: “We went a little bigger at Durango, probably up to 800-1,000 people. Then at Fallon Blue, we had over 3,500 people there and sold that show out. So the event is extremely fun, it’s run very different than other sporting events.
“It’s around three hours, but it’s almost like it’s a party atmosphere and it’s full of influencers, celebrities, and the fights are great. There are incredible moments during each slap match, and that’s what we think fans love.”
The popularity of organized Power Slap is on the rise in the US and Lamicella is confident it will spread globally.
“When it first started, it was coming out of Russia, Poland, and America. Over the last six months, I’ve seen leagues pop up in Mexico, I’ve seen leagues pop up in South Africa. We have some experienced slap fighters from South Africa that are on our roster now,” he said.
“We’ve seen a league pop up in South Korea. I think what’s fascinating is, for example, that South Korea league, they run MMA fights and then started doing some slap fights. The slap fights, we’re doing 200 million views for them on Instagram. And the MMA fights out of that league, we’re doing half a million. So I think you’re going to see more and more leagues, especially as we continue to legitimize the sport and do what we’re doing, bringing it around the world and putting it in front of a variety of different fans.”
Power Slap will also be making its way to Saudi Arabia, after UFC recently announced a partnership with Riyadh Season.
“We’re planning an event in Riyadh in January next year,” said Lamicella. “We’re excited to go around the region and continue to build.”
For now, in Abu Dhabi on Thursday evening, all eyes will be on Da Crazy Hawaiian and his inspiration, Dumpling.
“We knew from the beginning this would be a match that would happen,” said Lamicella. “To start with Dumpling, the first fight he was ever in was in Power Slap 8, in June. He’s a farmer from Siberia. He had to take five flights to Las Vegas.
“We got him out here early. We worked with him a little bit because the rules he was used to in Russia are a little different here in Power Slap. And then he comes on stage and knocks this guy out in one slap. And it was a huge moment for us, we knew he would be on a collision course with Da Crazy Hawaiian.
“Da Crazy Hawaiian was one of the first guys we brought over to Power Slap. He was the existing super heavyweight champion at another promotion in the US. He’s undefeated in Power Slap. And he looked up to the Dumpling — Dumpling is the reason he got into slap fighting. So now we have them coming head to head. I think it’s going to go down as a legendary title slap-fighting match. When we look back five years from now, we’ll look at this match and say hey, that was one for the record books.”
