LAS VEGAS -- A night of brutal knockouts and an annoyingly large number of fouls ended with Ryan Phillips, "The King of Kings," stretched out flat on his back, Damien Dibbell slinging the Power Slap heavyweight belt over his shoulder and Dana White plotting rules changes.
Another celebrity-laden crowd filled the UFC Apex and were treated to wild knockouts by Dibbell, Austin Turpin, Anthony "Babyface" Blackburn and Russel Rivero. But there were three fights ended because of fouls and Turpin's impressive win was surrounded by controversy.
His light heavyweight title bout against Ron "Wolverine" Bata went on as scheduled despite the fact that Turpin somehow managed to miss the 205-pound limit by an absurd 17 pounds. He knocked out Bata in the fourth round to thrill the crowd, but then got a tongue-lashing from White, the UFC CEO and Power Slap founder about professionalism.
"I f*cked up and it is what it is," a downcast Turpin said after a satisfying win over his arch rival.
He didn't win the light heavyweight title as a result of missing weight, but White said he'd probably rematch Bata and Turpin for the title at Power Slap 8 during International Fight Week in June. He seemed at peace with Turpin's miss, and certainly wasn't outraged.
The sport is developing and the athletes aren't the same caliber as they in the UFC.
"Power slappers aren't as," White began, before pausing to chuckle, "physically fine-tuned as UFC fighters are,"
What he wasn't happy about was witih the slew of fouls that were delaying the card repeatedly. Alan Klingbeil, Ayjay Hintz and Eviahn Scott won by disqualification as a result of fouls. Hintz was knocked out by Rodriguez but it was a clubbing foul and was illegal.
White and Power Slap president Frank Lamicella said promotion executives need to work with the Nevada Athletic Commission to tweak the rules. There were several fouls for stepping on Friday and some were difficult to interpret. Lamicella said the goal is not necessarily to ensure the striker's feet are afixed to the floor at all times, but rather to make sure a striker doesn't do a full weight shift and pivot.
So White said Lamicella and chief business officer Hunter Campbell would be in touch with commission officials about clarifying the rules to allow the strikers to better understand what they can and can't do and to enable the referees to call the fights more.efficiently.
The key, he said, will be having more shows so that all involved get a better feel for it. Dibbell suggested having camps to better instruct the fighters on what's permissible and what isn't.
The show is going to go on the road later this year, probably first to Texas, White said. And so there will need to be a concerted effort to educate officials everywhere about the rules and how to call them.
But Dibbell sent everyone home happy with a vicious KO. Phillips has a good chin, but the 250-pound Dibbell is one of the most powerful strikers in the promotion.
"It lasted longer than I thought it would," Dibbell said. "But once I found that groove, it was over."