UFC Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin will step into the limelight for Dana White's newest creation, the Power Slap League.
Although he won't be officially competing in the league, he will be part of every duel as he assumes the role of the 'head catcher'. The role is self-explanatory and will involve catching the participants in case the impact causes them to fall back.
Griffin is tasked with cushioning the participants' falls after they are rocked by the strongest palms in the world. The former UFC light heavyweight champion spoke about his new role:
"I'm gonna be a head catcher. I mean, it seems like a pretty interesting gig, right? And also, I get like, the best seat in the house, and honestly, I'm pretty good at catching injured people. I'm kinda doing it for research purposes. I'm just interested to see like the different types of impacts and what happens."
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He also explained why his role is necessary:
"That double impact, right? You've taken the first trauma and then when your head, the back of your head hits the ground and bang, bang, both sides of your brain actually bounce against the skull, so we want to prevent that and make it just the initial impact and have that be what either causes or does not cause you to win or lose a competition."
Forrest Griffin was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2013 after his retirement a year prior. He has since been the Vice President of Athlete Development at the UFC Performance Institute in Nevada.
Check out his full comments about his new role on Instagram:
UFC president Dana White unveils brand new belt for the Power Slap League
UFC president Dana White's newest endeavor, the Power Slap League, is all set to premiere on January 11 on TBS. In light of that, White unveiled the championship belt for the league.
Journalist John Morgan shared a graphic of the strap's design with a description accompanying its various new elements, including the new "SLAP" logo.
Here are the details:
- BELT STRAP: Made of genuine PVC leather. The Power Slap brand elements (bolt, bullseye, and triangle) are incorporated throughout the belt design. The 'SLAP' logo featured on the belt was specifically developed for the same.
- WEIGHT CLASS DESIGNATION: Side plate can be changed out to reflect specific weight class.
- MAIN PLATE: Composed of cast zinc alloy with nickel and silver, the reverberation of the slap is visualized in the detail of the main plate.
- "SLAP" LOGO: Specifically developed for the Power Slap championship belt, this special process plating gives the "SLAP" logo its unique blue appearance.
Check out John Morgan's post on Instagram below: