TV debut of White’s Power Slap League delayed
- MMA columnist for ESPN.com
- Analyst for “MMA Live”
- Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun
The televised debut of Dana White’s Power Slap League has been delayed by one week, less than four days after White admitted to a physical altercation with his wife on New Year’s Eve.
A UFC official told ESPN that the Power Slap League will now debut Jan. 18 on TBS, rather than its initially scheduled launch of Jan. 11. UFC did not offer further detail behind the delay. UFC’s Instagram account posted a promotional video on the competition/reality show, “Power Slap: Road to the Title,” on Thursday, with a specified air date of Jan. 18.
TBS has not commented on the New Year’s Eve altercation involving White and his wife. Neither ESPN, UFC’s broadcast partner, nor Endeavor, UFC’s parent company, has commented either.
White, 53, publicly apologized during an interview with TMZ on Monday. Video surfaced of White slapping his wife, Anne, in the face after she slapped him in the VIP area of a nightclub in Cabo, Mexico.
“You’ve heard me say over the years, ‘There is never, ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman,’ and now here I am on TMZ talking about it,” White told TMZ. “I’m literally making no excuses for this thing at all. It’s never happened before. It’s the first time it’s ever happened. People are going to say what they’re going to say, and it is what it is. Whatever people say is deserved. I deserve it.”
Anne released a similar statement to TMZ in which she also described the incident as isolated. The two have been married for nearly 30 years and reside in Las Vegas.
The Power Slap League is a new venture for White, who rejoined forces with his former business partners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta. The Fertitta brothers purchased UFC in 2001 and installed White as president. The brothers sold the company to the Endeavor Talent Agency for $4 billion in 2016, with White staying on as president.
The competition consists of two people alternating slaps to the face for three rounds, or shorter if a knockout occurs. The Nevada State Athletic Commission licensed the league in October, meaning it is a regulated athletic competition in the state.
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