UFC Chief Dana White Expands Combat Sports Portfolio With Power Slap and Zuffa Boxing
UFC President Dana White is scaling alternative combat sports ventures like Power Slap and Zuffa Boxing, leveraging viral social media metrics and a centralized promotion model to capture untapped sponsor revenue and disrupt traditional fight economics.
UFC President and CEO Dana White is aggressively expanding his combat sports portfolio beyond mixed martial arts, positioning viral slap-fighting and a newly centralized boxing promotion as major future revenue drivers. Speaking at a recent industry summit in New York, White outlined his strategy to monetize these alternative fighting formats.
Power Slap, a competition where participants exchange open-palmed strikes, has generated significant digital engagement since its 2022 launch. According to analytics platform Socialpruf, the property accumulated 1.88 billion impressions and nearly 40 million likes over the past year, translating to $48 million in earned media value.
This digital footprint has rapidly attracted major corporate backing. Brands including Anheuser-Busch, Monster Energy, VeChain, Circa Sports, and 500 Casino have signed on as sponsors. White noted that the venture secured more sponsors in its first two years than the UFC achieved in a decade.
Sourcing talent for the sport relies on targeting individuals with high pain tolerance, such as amateur wrestlers. White emphasized that the business model succeeds by delivering compelling live events that translate effectively to television and short-form video platforms, which currently drive the majority of its viewership growth.
Beyond slap-fighting, White is directing investment into Zuffa Boxing, a new venture that held its first event in January. The initiative aims to replicate the centralized promotional model that built the UFC, addressing what White describes as a deeply fragmented and unsophisticated traditional boxing market.
White characterized the existing boxing industry as economically lucrative but operationally broken, comparing current promotional efforts to a going-out-of-business sale. By consolidating control, Zuffa Boxing intends to stabilize the market and redirect a larger share of revenue to the athletes.
This strategy highlights a broader shift in sports entertainment economics, where low-cost, high-virality formats can rapidly attract institutional sponsorship. For investors and market professionals, White’s dual approach demonstrates how centralized management can extract value from both emerging digital-first sports and legacy markets plagued by inefficiency.
