To put it bluntly, slap fighting is a joke. And if a recent episode of “The Daily Show” is any indicator, mixed martial arts could be back to widely viewed the same way by association.
We have Dana White’s Power Slap League to thank for this after the UFC-backed slap fighting promotion was recently formed and received the blessing of the Nevada Athletic Commission last week to run events at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
In response to what he termed “big sports news,” Trevor Noah hilariously roasted the UFC for bringing slap fighting into the mainstream.
“I don’t know about you, but I am excited to see how the Nevada Athletic Commission plans to regulate the rules of the sport,” Noah told “Daily Show” viewers. “Like, are you allowed to flinch? Can I use my moves from school? Is Will Smith the reigning champ? Is that how it works?
“You know what I would propose to make the sport more exciting? You know how in wrestling they trash talk to get people going, and then in boxing they do the weigh-in where they challenge each other. What they should do for slap fighting is they should have each fighter say something first that warrants them getting slapped, you know? ‘I never liked your mother’s cooking.’ Slap!”
You can watch his entire roasting below:
To answer one of Noah’s questions, no, you can’t flinch. You’re not allowed to defend yourself at all. You just have to stand there and let another person slap you upside your head as hard as they can.
That’s what makes slap fighting so absurd – that and the unnecessary head trauma that comes with it.
As MMA Junkie’s Matthew Wells put it in a recent column, “no matter how you dress it up, slap fighting will always feel like something Larry, Curly and Moe cooked up.”
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
Trevor Noah roasts UFC slap fighting league: ‘Is Will Smith the reigning champion?’
