Dana White’s side project Power Slap has become a colossal phenomenon. Apparently, it seems like it has been surpassing expectations and breaking viewership records. If you haven’t heard about it yet, rest assured. White himself is eager to share its astounding success.
White often emphasizes that Power Slap’s audience surpasses the global population. While this is an exaggeration, it reflects his enthusiasm for the sport. According to the UFC CEO, Power Slap is unmatched in terms of viewership.
White reminisced on the FLAGRANT podcast about his initial encounter with slap fighting. He recalled: “What if I did this, made it an actual sport, got it sanctioned, and put good production value behind it? The answer is f—kin’ billions of views. Billions of views globally.”
He elaborated: “Think about this. We started this thing 15 months ago, right? Right now, on YouTube, we got more subscribers than NHL (National Hockey League), MLS (Major League Soccer), NASCAR (racing), PGA (Professional Golfer’s Association), Barstool Sports. We have over a billion YouTube views.”
“Eight of the top 12 largest YouTube shorts against other major sports are Power Slap. Four of the top five largest YouTube shorts on UFC’s channel. We’re No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 on UFC. When you think about Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, all the big stars, this thing absolutely dominates. We have more followers than every single professional sport. Every professional sports team, we have more followers than them in 15 months. I don’t know about the soccer teams, but I would say yes.”
Power Slap’s rapid growth is indeed remarkable. To verify White’s claims, here are the YouTube subscriber counts for the mentioned entities:
- Power Slap: 2.58M
- NHL: 2.16M
- NASCAR: 1.24M
- PGA: 1.4M
- Barstool Sports: 1.76M
The numbers confirm White’s assertions. Power Slap’s most viewed YouTube video has 2.9 million views, while its most popular short boasts 369 million views. Many shorts have even higher view counts, validating the billion-view claim when considering both videos and shorts.
Comparing social media followings, Power Slap also holds its ground. Here are some Instagram and YouTube stats for reference:
- Power Slap (Instagram): 3.9M
- Kansas City Chiefs (American football): 4.2M (Instagram), 627K (YouTube)
- Real Madrid (Football/soccer): 162M (Instagram), 13.7M (YouTube)
- Los Angeles Lakers (Basketball): 24.6M (Instagram), 664K (YouTube)
It seems like Power Slap’s viral content is highly engaging, contributing to its impressive numbers.
White went on to say, “We have more viewers than any Taylor Swift video ever posted.”
However, Swift’s top five music videos each surpass a billion views, with eight exceeding 500 million. She also has 283 million Instagram followers and 59.2 million YouTube subscribers. As UFC’s Max Holloway would say, “It is what it is.”
Power Slap’s meteoric rise in the sports viewership landscape is undeniable. With its captivating, easily shareable content, it has swiftly amassed a substantial following. While comparisons to global superstars like Taylor Swift might be ambitious, the numbers speak for themselves.
