UFC veteran Eric Spicely was offered a contract that would guarantee him just $2,000 to compete in Dana White's new Power Slap League.
Spicely, 36, competed in the UFC for three years but was cut from the organisation after going 3-5 in a dismal run at 185lb. The Canadian has since fought in Abu Dhabi and across Europe, but has been knocked out in all three of his fights. Spicely was recently offered a spot in the new slap-fighting competition, only to be left shocked at the pay he was offered.
"I was contacted to do power slap, you guys would be shocked at how much it pays," Spicely wrote on Twitter. A fan then replied to the UFC veteran "not enough" before he wrote back: "First fight was $2k and $2k." In the UFC, the minimum purse is $10,000 for fighters signed from the Contender Series which means Power Slap guarantees fighters five times less for competing.
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Power Slap's introduction has been highly controversial with fans and fighters sharing their concern about the contestants competing in the league. Chris Nowinski, the founder of Concussion Legacy Foundation, has slammed UFC president Dana White for launching the and thinks a contestant who was brutally knocked out in the inaugural episode may "never be the same".
"This is so sad. Note the fencing posture with the first brain injury," Nowinski wrote. "He may never be the same. Dana White and TBS Network should be ashamed. Pure exploitation. What's next, who can survive a stabbing?" The contestant in question suffered short-term memory loss after being knocked out as doctors had to remind him of what just happened.
Spicely's UFC exit came after he pulled out of a fight on one day's notice due to a bad weight cut. The 36-year-old later revealed that he was taking antidepressants having suffered head trauma in a fight the year prior, writing: “This was my first weight cut since starting antidepressants due to the head trauma I sustained in the Deron Winn fight. Needless to say it went horribly wrong."
The launch of Power Slap couldn't have come at a worse time as UFC boss White was filmed slapping his wife in public on New Year's Eve. Official TV ratings show the first episode of Power Slap averaged 295,000 viewers in the US, with the second episode of the series set to air tomorrow night, with viewers outside the US only being able to watch the league on the streaming service Rumble.
