Trevor Noah took aim at the news that the first-ever regulated slap-fighting league will be arriving from the UFC president, Dana White.
The Daily Show host suggested that “we might be witnessing the birth of a new era” with the news, which includes details of a licensed athletic competition in Nevada.
“Slapping is about to become an official sport and those big dudes might be the champ for now but it’s only a matter of time before the sport is dominated by immigrant moms,” he joked.
There's going to be an official slap fighting league? Is Will Smith the reigning champ? pic.twitter.com/XQyCJzyhQK
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 20, 2022
While other leagues have existed before, this one will be the first regulated one, an idea that Noah struggles with. “I am excited to see how the Nevada athletic commission plans to regulate the rules of the sport,” he said. “Are you allowed to flinch? Can I use my moves from school? Is will smith the reigning champ, is that how it works?”
Noah went onto explain an idea of his own to help it seem as thrilling as other fighting competitions. “You know what I would propose to make the sport more exciting?” he said. “You know how in wrestling, they trash talk to get people going and in boxing they do the weigh-in, well what they should do for slap-fighting is have each fighter say something that warrants them getting slapped.”
He suggested: “I never liked your mother’s cooking”.
The host eventually spoke of his support for the idea. “I like that there are more and more sports that divorced men can excel at,” he said. “Getting slapped, eating 100 hot dogs …”
He added: “You realise we’re basically two weeks away from a sport that’s just sleeping on your friend’s pullout couch, right?”
He also spoke to the naysayers, claiming that “every sport sounds ridiculous when you first hear about it” joking that the first Nascar conversation would have been someone pitching “we’re all gonna drive really fast in a big circle”.
