Jordan Leavitt wants slams banned from MMA: “I would prefer to have won in any other way”

UFC lightweight Jordan Leavitt believes that slams should be banned from MMA after he knocked Matt Wiman out with a nasty one at UFC Vegas 16.

Leavitt earned a UFC contract after picking up a finish on Dana White’s Contender Series this past summer. “The Monkey King” made his long-awaited Octagon debut in the opening main card bout of this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 16 card against the veteran Wiman, and the result was a spectacular win for the newcomer. Not long after the opening bell rang, Leavitt picked Wiman up, carried him across the cage, and slammed him to the canvas, knocking him out cold in just 23 seconds.

It was an incredible knockout and a true rarity at the highest levels of the sport, as it’s just the 12th slam knockout in UFC history. The KO went viral and it earned Leavitt a $50,000 bonus for “Performance of the Night.” But believe it or not, Leavitt isn’t exactly happy with his performance. Although he says he did what he needed to do to get his hand raised, Leavitt actually believes slams are extremely dangerous, so much so that he’s now calling on them getting banned from MMA.

“I 100 percent agree that the sport would be a much safer, artful thing if slams like that weren’t allowed. But when you’re out there and you’re in that cage you have to decide, ‘Am I going to pay rent tonight, or do I have to downgrade my house and put my family in an unstable position?’ I think any person would do what I did in that situation,” Leavitt told TMZ Sports.

“But I think slams are ugly and I think they’re dangerous. And even though I didn’t slam him on the back of the head, there are dozens of fights where they do get slammed on the back of the head. And if it lands that way, unless you’re in a submission, I don’t think it’s warranted. I would prefer to have won in any other way. I’m happy, it’s a highlight, and it’s good for my career and notoriety, but that’s not the way I wanted it to be.”

It’s perhaps a bit of a surprising outlook from Leavitt after he just scored one of the best KOs of 2020. But it’s clear that Leavitt is someone who truly cares about the health and well-being of his opponents, and if it was up to him, slams would be outlawed. Hopefully, Wiman is able to make a speedy recovery from the knockout.

Do you agree with Jordan Leavitt that slams should be banned from MMA?