Even slap fighting aficionados know that their brand of combat pseudo-sports violence is a tough sell.
“Ninety percent of the people can’t stand this sport—they think it’s unfair,” SlapFIGHT Championship founder and Power Slap consultant JT Tilly recently told the New Yorker.
Slap fighting competitions, where two opponents stand across a table from one another and club each other across the jaw with as much force as possible—while the clubee stands, un-defended and unflinching—have become a viral video sensation over the last half decade. Enough so that UFC president Dana White decided to jump on the bandwagon, with his own Ultimate Fighter styled reality show: Power Slap.