Ex-Chair Admits ‘Mistake’ In Sanctioning ‘Power Slap’

Stephen J. Cloobeck resigned from his post at Nevada State Athletic Commission back in Dec. of last year, but one of his final acts as commission chair was to help sanction Dana White’s “Power Slap” fighting league, which wraps up Season 1 this weekend in Las Vegas.

Looking back, Cloobeck regrets his choice.

“I made a mistake,” Cloobeck said in a new AP report questioning the “stupidity” of slap fighting. “I’m not happy about it.”

At the time it probably felt like one of those “forward-thinking” decisions.

“The Nevada State Athletic Commission is the best athletic commission in the world,” White said at the Power Slap Season 1 finale press conference. “It’s not just because they’re in our hometown. There are some athletic commissioners out there that just want great tickets, come and hang out at the fights, and things like that. Nevada really do care that the health and safety things are in place.”

White slapping his wife in Mexico may have contributed to Cloobeck’s remorse and may also be the primary reason why the upcoming Power Slap Finale is no longer being televised on pay-per-view (more on that turn of events here).

“We were back and forth on PPV, I didn’t know if we were going to do any views,” White continued. “Let’s be honest. I didn’t do myself any favors on New Year’s Eve. So if you look at all the things that were going on, it’s all a test. You’re testing all these different platforms in different ways for this to work.”

If it does in fact “work” then look for Season 2 at some point later this year.