Power Slap, the controversial slap fighting league backed by Ultimate Fighting Championship owner Dana White, is set to hold five upcoming events at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas casino resort.
The luxury Las Vegas Strip resort announced this week it has become the “official home” of Power Slap for the foreseeable future. The December 6 Power Slap 10 event will kick off the run. Four more events will be held in 2025.
Slap fighting sees two competitors take turns open-palm slapping each other in the face across a podium, until one of them can take no more.
Out of 38 legal sports betting states in the U.S., only five – Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, and Oregon – have decided to allow betting on slap fighting. Leading sportsbooks, including FanDuel, have also declined to offer markets on the sport. But its competitor, DraftKings, has embraced the league.
Power Slap attracts a huge amount of eyeballs online and decent in-person crowds. Power Slap 8 was held at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas in June 2024, with a sold-out crowd of 3,500 on hand. Clips from the league have amassed billions of views online, and the organization has five million followers on Instagram.
The Events
Tickets for the inaugural day of the five-event Power Slap series at Fontainebleau go on sale October 24. It will be held on December 6 in the luxury resort’s Cobalt Ballroom.
No word yet on which matchups will take place at the event. Competitors are mostly thick-set, burly people. Top names include Vasil “Dumpling” Kamotskii, Dayne “Da Hawaiian Hitman” Viernes (pictured, right) and Austin “Turp Daddy Slim” Turpin.
Many matches end in brutal knockouts, with one of the two contestants unable to stand for further rounds. However, White says the organization spends as much money as needed to keep it as safe as can be.
Power Slap is licensed by the Nevada Athletic Commission. There are multiple medics directly behind each competitor, and all are offered free medical assessments before and after each fight. However, it remains controversial, and many consider repeated, defenseless hits to the head to be worse than the injuries possible in combat sports like boxing or MMA.
Some physicians, including in Nevada, have called for slap fighting to be banned. They say the risk of participants suffering chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or brain swelling, and other head trauma-related injury, is unacceptably high.
Although no one has died or received life-changing injuries in Power Slap, a Polish slap fighter died after being knocked out at a 2017 event in Europe.
Nevertheless, slap fighting remains hugely popular. And where there is popularity, there is money to be made. As well as UFC’s White, the billionaire Fertitta brothers, owners of Las Vegas-based Red Rock Resorts, are also investors in Power Slap, along with UFC’s parent company, Endeavour.
Meanwhile, the $3.7 billion Fontainebleau Las Vegas casino resort has had no few controversies of its own since its long-delayed 2023 opening. It will no doubt be hoping that a sold-out Power Slap residency will give it a boost in publicity, aided by the event’s controversial nature.
“Our first event, Power Slap 8 at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, was a massive success,” said Power Slap President Frank Lamicella.
“It was a no-brainer to team up on a long-term partnership to allow more fans to come and experience the energy and excitement of a live Power Slap event, as well as the incredible hospitality, gaming, and dining experiences at Fontainebleau Las Vegas.”
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
