Tonight, San Ysidro's Dorian Perez will take next step in slap fighting career. (Wait, what?)

At first, Dorian Perez wasn’t sure it was a real thing.

A sport consisting of dishing out and taking slaps to the face? Huh?

“I was pretty much just laughing at the idea of it at first,” Perez said. “For real? People actually do this and people watch it? But then I started checking it out and man, it was perfect for me. I had to get involved.”

And so Perez will carry a 3-0 record into his heavyweight bout against Darius “The Destroyer” Mata-Varona Wednesday night at 6 in Las Vegas at Power Slap 2.

The sport has started to carve out a niche among combat sport fans. It now has the full backing of UFC President Dana White, who saw clips of events taking place in Russia and Poland and came up with the idea of creating a league in the United States.

Currently, Nevada’s State Athletic Commission is the only one that has sanctioned Power Slap events. White is working to get the sport up and running in other states as well.

Fights consist of three rounds in which each fighter both dishes out and receives one slap each round. Winners can make anywhere between $2,000 and $10,000 for winning.

“Three things make sense on this: social media, betting and bars,” White told the Sports Business Journal. “It really works perfectly in all three of these places.”

Wednesday’s event will air live on the streaming platform Rumble.com. The sport has already gathered a massive following on TikTok (over 32 million followers) and other social media hubs.

Want to place a bet? Fans can do that as well.

For the 25-year Perez, who grew up in San Ysidro, slap fighting presented a logical opportunity after years spent boxing and playing more traditional sports like football.

“It’s perfect for me because I’ve never been knocked out and it darn sure hasn’t been for a lack of trying,” said Perez, who trains out of the San Diego Combat Academy in Spring Valley. “Football. Boxing. Street fights. Doing wild things, I’ve been knocked around quite a bit but I guess I have a strong chin. I can take a shot and keep on going. It’s fun. From Day 1, I said: ‘I’m going to outlast my opponent. Not show any pain. Blow him a kiss. Shake his hand. Smile. Whatever it takes.’ It’s fun seeing that look on someone’s face after they think they rocked you and you just took it.”

The matchup with No. 2 ranked Mata-Varona (3-0) will be the biggest thus far for No. 3 Perez, who has wins over John Beeler, John Davis and Frank Holland on his ledger.

A victory would possibly set up a match with current heavyweight champ Ron Bata.

The discipline it takes to be a good slap fighter is intense. The fighter taking the slap can’t flinch or otherwise move or they risk being disqualified and each slap has to be delivered with an open hand directly to the opponent’s cheek.

“There definitely is technique involved,” Perez said. “A good slap starts out of the legs and comes through the body. It’s like a mix between an explosive jump into the air, a fastball pitch and a right cross in boxing. It’s energy transfer from your body into the other guy’s face. The perfect slap almost feels effortless.”