Dana White was right. Taylor Swift's social media views eclipsed by Power Slap League despite billion-dollar Eras Tour
UFC CEO Dana White's growth projections about the Power Slap League appear to have been vindicated. It was recently revealed that the content posted online by White's slap-fighting League far outperforms the content uploaded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift as far as social media metrics are concerned.
Last month, White made some lofty claims about Power Slap League's popularity on social media and stated that an Instagram reel posted via the promotion's handle garnered more views than any reel uploaded by Swift.
Check out Dana White's IG story below:
The UFC frontman reported that the Power Slap reel had gotten 136 million views in total. It showed slap-fighting athlete Sheena Bathory tanking a brutal right-handed slap from Christine Wolmarans at the inaugural women's contest at Power Slap 5 in October 2023. Despite Wolmaran's gargantuan effort, Bathory ultimately won the contest via second-round knockout.
A recent report by veteran MMA journalist Kevin Iole appears to back White's claims about the Power Slap's growth. Swift is a bona fide chart-topping megastar with a cult-like global fanbase. She boasts over 279 million Instagram followers, nearly 95 million X followers, and 55 million YouTube subscribers.
Despite her social media influence, her most-viewed reel only got two-thirds the number of views that Power Slap's Bathory-Wolmarans reel got. While Swift's most successful post has about 91.1 million views, the Bathory-Wolmarans reel has now touched 154 million views. While her biggest YouTube short received 125 million views, Power Slap's best-performing short has 435 million.
Overall, it seems the Power Slap League is on a whole other level when it comes to social media metrics. Despite Swift's record-breaking $1.04 billion Eras Tour last year, White's slap-fighting league found more success online after just five events.
When Dana White claimed the Power Slap League was more popular than any other sport on social media
In May 2023, UFC CEO Dana White made some bold claims about the Power Slap League. He stated that his slap-fighting promotion was the best-performing sports league on social media, and no other organization came close.
Given Power Slap's controversial beginnings, it's no surprise that the league never found its footing on broadcast television. However, as pointed out by Kevin Iole's report, the promotion commands a massive social media fan base and garners record-breaking viewership numbers online.
During a press conference earlier this year, White said:
"It’s unbelievable... We’re number one in all of sports, and when I say all of sports — if you take the NBA, NHL, NFL, F-1, WWE, and who am I forgetting, and add them all together, their numbers don’t compare to Slap."