Slap fighting is “perhaps the most absurd and senseless sport in the world.”
That’s according to Dr. Brian Sutterer, a sports medicine physician who questions why the Nevada Athletic Commission voted to regulate slap fighting and clear the way for Dana White’s Power Slap League.
“I don’t think any commission should be backing slap fighting,” Sutterer said on his YouTube channel. “I think it’s one of the most senseless, unnecessarily risky and dangerous sports.”
Sutterer points out that, while MMA and other traditional combat sports are inherently dangerous, the rules of slap fighting make it stand out in a negative way.
“What do we always say here in combat sports whether it’s boxing, mixed martial arts or whatever? It’s ‘protect yourself at all times,’” Sutterer said. “Fighters, while they’re trying to inflict damage on one another and you might say the injuries that are possible in mixed martial arts are worse looking than the injuries in slap fighting, in slap fighting there is no defense. You literally are not allowed to protect yourself. And so what you get is basically just two people trading concussive blows for one another.”
Sutterer believes there’s a “false sense of safety and security” among proponents of slap fighting given slaps aren’t typically associated with serious brain injuries. But having watched the first Dana White’s Power Slap League promotional video and other slap fighting footage, Sutterer explained how you end up with “basically an open-handed punch” most of the time.
“If you strike someone with more of the hard bones of the wrist or the carpus, it’s really no different than just punching someone,” Sutterer said. “Your wrist bones sit right underneath this lower portion of the palm. So if you make contact with someone’s face striking with that portion of your wrist, it’s not a slap at all. It’s essentially the equivalent to an open-handed punch.”
Nikolas Toth is knocked out by Maksymilian “Mad Max” Leśniak during the Slap Fighting Championships at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio. (Gaelen Morse, Getty Images)
And those open-handed punches, Sutterer said, can cause concussions with every subsequent blow. In addition to brain trauma, Sutterer points out the unnecessary risk of injury or fractures to facial bones, as well as the potential to rupture the ear drum.
“There’s so many levels here to what can go wrong, and the fact that you’re not allowed to defend yourself is why I feel like it’s just so absurd,” Sutterer said.
Dana White’s Power Slap League is expected to hold its first event before the end of 2022 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. In his presentation to the NAC, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell, a part owner of the Power Slap League, made the case that running toward regulation was the right move, as it was with MMA, or else risk unsanctioned “sports bar slap contests” taking place.
While Sutterer acknowledges the safety precautions that will be in place – referees, medical providers and spotters to prevent unconscious participants from crashing to the floor – he ultimately can’t understand why any state would approve slap fighting in the first place.
“This is just trading concussive blow for concussive blow with no seeming, like, competitive advantage you can get from trying to defend yourself like you might have in other sports,” Sutterer said. “If somebody goes down and suffers a concussion, what’s to keep them from getting right back up and maybe having a second impact that can cause a concussion and second-impact syndrome, which could be life threatening? …
“It feels like as risky of a sport as possible when it comes to long-term head trauma implications.”
