The violence of “Power Slap” is part of its allure
A fringe combat sport is pushing into the mainstream
In January 2023 Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial-arts firm, launched a new sporting endeavour: Power Slap, America’s first official slap-fighting league. Slap fighting is simple. Two competitors, usually beefy men, slap each other. Hard. The bout typically ends when only one of them is conscious. As recently as a year ago the sport was obscure, watched largely on social media in eastern Europe. Now slap-fighting franchises are starting to hit the mainstream.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Bad sport”
Culture February 3rd 2024
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