THERE are few more brutal sports in the world right now than Power Slap.
Leading the charge is glam Hungarian beauty, Franciska Szabo – better known as Sheena Bathory.
She went viral when a clip of her taking a vicious slap from fellow MMA rival Christine Wolmarans made her barely flinch, and responded by blowing a kiss at her opponent.
Incredibly, it was watched over 136 million views – making her more popular than Taylor Swift online.
It hasn’t been all plain sailing, especially since Bathory broke her breast implant in training back in September.
However, she has set her sights on the Misfits Boxing world – having started boxing training – and wants to take on current champ Julia Poca.
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Speaking exclusively to SunSport, Bathory said: “I have always followed Misfits Boxing.
“There are obviously so many beautiful women who compete who show their badass side.
“I can relate to boxing. It’s something knew in my life, but I was grappler and wrestled, so it would be challenging.
“It’s important for me to also keep my feminine side.
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“Being a badass and being sexy, I think Misfits Boxing does that very well and I’d love to be a part of that.”
Training
Former MMA fighter Bathory also used to wrestle, so she’s battle hardened when it comes to a tough training regime.
But, preparing for a Power Slap contest requires different preparation.
She said: “I work out with rubber bands to practice my arm swing and slap, that helped me a lot.
“For my jaw line I have a jaw exerciser that I bite down on too.
“The neck is very important, but because of my MMA training, which involves wrestling and kickboxing training, I get hit many times and that helps to make me physically stronger.”
Burst breast implant
Last month, though, Bathory was floored by a horror injury when her breast implant broke during a particularly aggressive training session.
She explained: “It happened in a rough training camp in Budapest.
“My sparring partner didn’t hold back, and I had a few kicks to my breasts.
“When you are on the floor and training, you don’t really realise the pain because it’s constant.
“The next day I saw some bruising above one of my breasts, and I felt some inflammation in my body.
“I went for blood work, and my results were very high.
“A friend, who was an MMA fighter, said to me I had to do an MRI on my breast in case it got damaged.
Power Slap is incresingly popular but hugely controversial
By Jack Figg
Power Slap is UFC boss Dana White’s newest and potentially most dangerous venture yet.
The American MMA promoter helped the UFC go from struggling business bought for just $2m to a global powerhouse now worth over $20BILLION.
But White’s passion has now shifted across to his new Power Slap league – where defenceless opponents withstand blows to the brain.
Doctors are outraged and have warned it MUST be banned before disaster strikes.
Chris Nowinski, a Harvard Ph.D. and former wrestler, claimed participants ‘may never be the same’ after taking the repeated blows to the head.
But White has remained unfazed and shared Power Slap’s huge social media numbers with clips soaring into the millions of views.
And he remarkably said: “This will be the biggest sport in the world. This will be bigger than the UFC. This will be bigger than the UFC.”
White helped catapult MMA into a mainstream sport but only time will tell if lightning will strike twice with Power Slap.
Sometimes, actually, my huge breasts were making it difficult for my boxing because I couldn’t keep my arms down!”
“Incredibly, the right one implant was smashed to pieces. It got into my blood, and it was really painful. It was insane.
“They took the implant out, and i’m not getting them back now because I want to focus on the competitions.
“Sometimes, actually, my huge breasts were making it difficult for my boxing because I couldn’t keep my arms down!
“I am now three pounds lighter, so it will help me with the weight cut.
“It was a blessing, even though it sounds so tragic!”
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Taunting a rival
Bathory became a viral superstar when she blew a kiss at rival Christine Wolmarans after being struck by a hard slap.
She barely flinched, which drew 136 million views in a clip shared on Instagram. More than anything on a Taylor Swift reel.
“My feelings are very mixed when I am competing in Power Slap,” Bathory said.
“I used to do wrestling and judo. There’s something about entertaining, which is important to me, but I still want to be there as an athlete.
“It came out naturally, why can’t I show my emotions? In judo you can’t, you have to respect the judges and the opponent.
“In Power Slap you get more freedom. And by the way, the slap from Christine was really strong! When she slapped me, I felt off for one second before then thinking, ‘Oh, I’m back!’
“I blew a kiss to say, ‘It wasn’t bad, but now it’s my turn’.”
Bathory continued: “I think people appreciate that women can tolerate really high pain.
“I also think it was very attractive for many men, who messaged me they wanted to die by my slap!
“Men, maybe, weren’t even aware they wanted to get slapped until seeing this video!”
Dana White support
Power Slap has been backed by Dana White, with the UFC chief executive officer founding the sport in 2022.
“It’s definitely a privilege to work in the same industry as Dana White,” Bathory revealed.
“He motivates me every day to train harder because I would also love to compete in MMA.
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“Hopefully, I can get his attention by fighting in both because he’s the GOAT of this industry.
“I am truly very grateful that I can be in the same circle.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk