Former UFC Champion Teases Move to Power Slap after Loss

Luke Rockhold's Next Move

In the aftermath of his wrestling defeat, Rockhold took to his Instagram to reflect on his experience. 

He expressed positivity about the event, writing, “Compete, challenge myself, get in shape, learn a new sport, and get paid with no risk. Lost a few points but had a good time. Happy to see wrestling make it to the big stage.” 

The last line of his caption, however, read, “Power slap, see you soon.” 

While Rockhold did not explicitly confirm the move as a serious one, the statement has been widely interpreted as a real tease toward joining Dana White's slap-fighting league. 

Combat sports broadcaster Ben Davis reacted to this news on X and was not enthused about Rockhold’s latest declaration:

The Polarizing World of Slap-Fighting

The promotion, which has drawn significant attention and controversy, appears to be expanding, and UFC President Dana White recently revealed plans for twelve Power Slap events in 2026.

Last year, shortly after the UFC deal with Paramount+ was announced, White spoke to influencer Logan Paul on his Impaulsive podcast, claiming that the sport is an even more profitable avenue for athletes than popular sports such as pro-wrestling.

“These guys will f— jump off a ladder onto a table full of tacks for $50 a night. You can come into Power Slap and make a sh—load of money,” he told the hosts. “These guys are all tough guys, big guys, so we're looking at these guys that wanted to be professional wrestlers and a lot of other athletes around the world to come into Power Slap.

The sport, however, is the center of a heated medical and ethical debate. 

A recent study from 2024, published in JAMA Surgery, provides troubling data on the dangers of slap-fighting, per the Brain Injury Association of America. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine analyzed 78 slap fights and found that concussive signs were observed after 29.1% of slaps and 51.8% of fighting sequences. 

Furthermore, 78.6% of the 56 contestants studied exhibited at least one visible sign of concussion, such as motor incoordination, a blank stare, or being slow to get up. 

In the article, the Brain Injury Association of America’s Medical Director-Emeritus Gregory O’Shanick spoke of the activity as “a paradigm for inflicting blunt force trauma to the head of a defenseless participant, and results in the expected constellation of neurological changes seen with impact events.”

He continued, “This is, in fact, the established definition of concussion/mild traumatic brain injury as currently recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Unlike most combat sports, defenders in slap fighting are not allowed to duck, dodge, or even flinch, standing motionless to absorb full-force, open-handed strikes to the cheek.

For critics, Power Slap is less a sport and more a pure, high-risk spectacle. The near-total removal of defensive skill, which is the core of boxing, MMA, and other combat sports, reduces the contest to a test of who can better endure traumatic brain injury. 

For a former champion like Rockhold, whose skills have been honed over decades of martial arts competitions, a transition to such a simplistic and dangerous format is a far cry from his UFC glory.