President of Power Slap
Executive joined team in: 2023
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Executive hometown: Staten Island, New York
A former corporate law attorney in New York City, Frank Lamicella joined the UFC nearly a decade ago before being recruited by leadership to help create and run a new sport centered around slap fighting. Assisting in the origination of Power Slap, Lamicella is responsible for its success from financial to overcoming the inherit controversy surrounding new combat sports.
What is slap fighting?
Slap fighting, in its current form, originated in Eastern Europe and the Midwest. It started to become popular on YouTube about five to six years ago. Power Slap is the world’s first regulated and sanctioned promotion, with rules approved by the Nevada State Athletic Commissions and other commissions in the United States. Slap fights are three to five rounds of back-and-forth action, with victors decided by knockout, technical knockout or decision (scored similar to other combat sports).
How did you come to work with the Power Slap?
I began my career as an M&A lawyer in New York and had the privilege of working on Endeavor’s acquisition of UFC back in 2016. A few years later, Hunter Campbell, current chief business officer of UFC, offered me a position on the UFC legal team here in Las Vegas. When Power Slap was formed in 2022, Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and Hunter asked if I would run Power Slap as its president. When the world’s best in combat sports ask a question like that, you say yes.
What are you most excited to see happen with Power Slap?
Power Slap is unique as we are developing both a sport and a business at the same time. Initial excitement was focused on building the rules set, signing the best slap fighters in the world, and producing the first event.
How do you respond to detractors who question slap fighting’s safety and legitimacy?
With transparency, facts and data. Healthy and safety is our number one priority – we spend millions of dollars to ensure that our fighters are safe before, during and after a Power Slap match. We often present our health statistics publicly to athletic commissions across the United States, which in totality show that Power Slap is as safe, if not safer, then other combat sports. Similar to the path the UFC took, we are legitimizing the sport by running towards government regulation, not away from it. We have also recruited the best slap fighters in the world to Power Slap, and have key business relationships with blue chip brands.
What do you think of the controversy surrounding the sport?
Any new concept tends to attract controversy. The reality is on a day-to-day basis we don’t think too much about it over here. We know who we are and stay focused on our goals and not the noise. The controversy surrounding the early days of the UFC was worse, and if that company succumbed to it, it would not have turned into one of the biggest and most beloved & successful global sports properties.
How do combat sports stand out in the professional sports world?
Combat sports resonate with all 8 billion people on earth – fighting is in the DNA of humans. That makes combat sports profoundly unique. Football may rule the United States, but in the eastern half of the world it is barely relevant. Cricket is massive in India, but you can’t find it on television in New York. Combat sports are global, easy to understand and consume, and transcend language and cultural barriers.
What do you hope for the future of sports in Nevada?
Las Vegas is becoming a global leader in sports – by 2030, I believe the city will have a team in each of the major sports and will be the destination for massive sports events year after year.
