The MMA Bunker: How Power Slap got pushed through so fast

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Zach Arnold discusses how Power Slap got sanctioned in California

While our fearless leader battles malware demons and other wicked foes, I sneaked back into his bunker for another chat with longtime investigative journalist Zach Arnold. I don’t know where Nate hid the shotgun (even though I said it was by the door), and I’m pretty sure that the mongrel outside the gates isn’t his mighty hound, but I did pull the shades and I looked under the lampshades for listening devices.

Zach has an incredible pair of articles up on our regular Substack that chronicle the events leading to the surprising decision by California to sanction Power Slap. If you’d like to read them and/or follow along, you can find them here and here. We get a point by point examination of the key players, events leading to the hush-hush meeting and potential outcomes. Suffice to say that now that California has fallen, the rest of the dominoes will, as well. Let’s take a look at our main bullet points of the conversation:

1. Why was the meeting to sanction Power Slap held on a Saturday?
2. How does Mark Hunt’s lawsuit figure in?
3. Proving/disproving drug test results explainer
4. Did Endeavor know in advance that Power Slap was getting sanctioned?
5. Why was there no written legal analysis?
6. What is a waiver asserting jurisdiction?
7. Why was this decision rushed out?
8. Why did they lump Bare Knuckle and Power Slap together at this meeting?
9. Defining the Zuffa myth 
10. Explain the gold standard
11. Where were the doctors?
12. “Trained athletes”
13. How Ronda Rousey’s mother is involved
14. How influential was Hunter Campbell at this meeting?
15. Athlete transport to hospitals and how that figures in
16. Establishing a trend
17. Using UFC image to prop up illusion of safety
18. First mover status + reg. capture
19. Market for Power Slap
20. Medical community response
21. Why Cali is Holy Grail

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Stephie Haynes

Stephie Haynes has been covering MMA since 2005. She has also worked for MMA promotion Proelite and apparel brand TapouT. She hosted TapouT’s official radio show for four years before joining Bloody Elbow in 2012. She has interviewed everyone there is to interview in the fight game from from Dana White to Conor McGregor to Kimbo Slice, as well as mainstream TV, film and music stars including Norman Reedus, RZA and Anthony Bourdain. She has been producing the BE podcast network since 2017 and hosts four of its current shows.

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