Lingerie Fighting Championships won’t backing down from Power Slap in a looming legal battle over its own open-handed combat event named Power Spank.
Last month, attorneys representing Power Slap sent a cease-and-desist letter to the LFC, demanding it stop using the Power Spank name.
LFC’s Power Spank is billed as a parody of Power Slap, the fighting league founded and co-owned by UFC CEO Dana White.
Power Slap features fighters clocking each other in the face with open-handed slaps, attempting to knock each other out. Power Spank, on the other hand, features combatants hitting each other on the backside before a victor is decided.
What did Lingerie Fighting Championships say about the action?
Despite the legal action from White and Co., Lingerie Fighting Championships won’t be backing down, hitting back with a fiery statement that it is willing to take the fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if it needs to.
“We respect Power Slap and its founders, but we will not be bullied into abandoning protected speech,” LFC’s CEO Shaun Donnelly said in a press release. “We will defend our right, and the right of every American, to free speech, and if that takes us to the Supreme Court, we are prepared to go.”
LFC also claimed that one of its competitors was hospitalized after competing in a Power Slap match, which helped prompt the invention of the “more fun” Power Spank.
“We watched one of our fighters get seriously hurt (at Power Slap) …” Donnelly said in a press release without naming the injured competitor. “Power Spank is our answer: Same energy, same theatrics, none of the brain damage. And, let’s be honest, a spank is a lot more fun to watch than a slap.”
White is yet to comment on the situation, with Lenee Breckenridge, Senior VP of Communications for the UFC, telling USA Today that the company’s head honcho is travelling for the next few days.
How much are the companies worth?
Power Slap reportedly is valued at an estimated $750 million US, having grown considerably over the past few years.
But that type of financial backing won’t deter the much-smaller LFC in this looming legal battle.
“This isn’t a gimmick to us — it’s a statement,” Donnelly said in the press release. “Combat sports can be bold and outrageous without being reckless. Power Spank proves you can still pack a house without packing an ambulance.”