A Dangerous Game: 78% of Power Slap Fighters Show Signs of Brain Injury According to Study

According to a recent study, Power Slap Fighting is even more dangerous than initially thought. A whopping 78% of athletes suffered from likely brain injury.

Power Slap Fighting and Brain Damage

Power Slap is produced and promoted by UFC president Dana White who has been taking constant criticism of the sport since its inception. The University of Pittsburgh and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System reviewed footage from the first season of Power Slap and found that 78% of participants displayed at least one sign of a concussion. These signs could include vacant stares, slow movements, coordination issues, and even vomiting or seizures.

The study revealed that of the 333 slaps reviewed, nearly 30% led to visible concussive signs, and 20 participants showed signs of multiple concussions. But this might be part of the appeal, as UFC fighter Donald Cerrone explained in an interview:

“I love it. This is, like, if you just want to watch knockout, knockout, knockout, and hear CTE brain damage, this is the event”

When it first debuted in 2022, Neurologist Dr. Nitin Sethi explained:

“Open-handed slaps delivered with such force to the opponent’s face frequently cause the person’s legs to buckle, at times suffer momentary – sometimes longer – loss of consciousness, and collapse to the floor. These are all concussive injuries of varying duration … In my professional opinion, those who partake in this ‘sport’ will also suffer the stigmata of chronic neurological injuries.”

On the study itself, neurologist Raj Swaroop Lavadi of the University of Pittsburgh said:

“Slap fighting may be entertaining to watch as a lay viewer, but as medical professionals, we found some aspects of the competitions to be quite concerning. Our end goal is to make all professional sports safer for the neurologic health of the athletes. It is really difficult to ban any sport, but it is possible to raise awareness about the associated harms.“