Joe Rogan thinks Paige VanZant should reconsider her decision to compete on Power Slap.
“Don’t do it, Paige,” the UFC commentator and podcast host said on a June 22 edition of the JRE Fight Companion. “Unless she makes a deal where [she says] “I have to slap first.” Can you do that? Can you say, ‘I’ll fight you, but I’ll slap you first’?
VanZant fought for the UFC nine times between 2014 and 2020, and was one of the promotion’s biggest stars for much of that time, but after losing three of her last five fights in the Octagon, she hit free agency.
His first stop after the UFC was BKFC, a bare-knuckle promotion. At the time, she was the biggest signing in the promotion’s history, but she came up short both times she stepped into the ring, losing by decisions to Britain Hart and Rachael Ostovich.
After nearly three years away from combat sports competition, VanZant finally returned to action in May, taking on adult film actress Elle Brooke in a boxing match on MF & DAZN X Series 15. Although Brooke knocked him down in the first round, VanZant was able to come back to a split draw.
The news of his agreement with Power Slap came shortly after the draw with Brooke.
Power Slap is the brainchild of UFC CEO Dana White and sees competitors take turns hitting each other in the face with their palms at point-blank range. It has already been sanctioned in several states, even though there is an obvious risk of serious brain injury to anyone who participates.
Despite working for the UFC and having a close friendship with White, Rogan is clearly not a fan of the fringe sport, which he acknowledged has “been around forever” in markets like Russia.
“What are we doing here?” said the UFC commentator. “It’s gratuitous brain damage. Why? You can hit someone so hard with a slap. Everyone thinks a slap is a slap in the face; that’s not what’s happening. You get slapped in the face. the hand in the face, at full speed.
“How was this sanctioned?”
