Nate Burnard’s always loved to hit.

Whether that be playing football at Orchard Park or eventually Division II Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Burnard was not afraid of contact.

His football dream took some detours though, from a two year mission trip to Africa to returning home to help as his mother dealt with a medical issue.

Ultimately Burnard found himself back home in Buffalo, working as a bouncer or Buffalo Bills security at Highmark Stadium.

That all changed during a family get together about a year ago.

His sister was scrolling through videos on YouTube when she stopped on something called Power Slap.

“We didn’t know what it was,” Burnard remembers. “We just saw two guys smacking each other left and right. At that moment, my father, he said ‘You should do this.’ For myself, I thought he was just joking. I’m like, nah, nah. I’m good. I’m good. He’s like ‘No, really. You should do it.’ It took that whole week, for the course of that whole week he was just texting me, ‘man, you should do this. You have this aggression. You have this tenacity. Always wanting to compete. Why not?’ So I thought about it, prayed about it, and then took that route.”

That route was signing up online for Power Slap – a UFC spinoff started by Dana White.

Burnard filled out measurables and other things then didn’t hear back from anyone at Power Slap for a few months.

Then he got the call for his first match last August.

Exactly what that all entailed was very much unknown.

“Everyone knows what a slap is, so you think it’s just real soft and light, but people are throwing pretty much open hand haymakers at each other left and right,” Burnard explained.

Of course, there are rules in Power Slap competition.

“You measure up to his face and it has to be below the temple and above the chin, so right here in the sweet spot,” Burnard said. “Right in the cheek. You have your measure and then you line up one, two, and then you just let it fly.”

There are fouls for landing the slap outside those parameters as well as flinching, among others.

Burnard’s admittedly learning on the fly, which includes how to train to be the best at slapping.

“Some of the guys that I’ve been talking to, they’ll train their neck, they’ll train their arms with kettle bell swings and things like that,” Burnard said. “Or just have a piece of rubber and chew it in the mouth. I think it’s that, but also more so just having a knack for competing and having a knack for, you know what you signed up for. You know that there’s going to be someone across from you that you’re going to slap or someone’s going to go ahead and try to hit you. So finding the best way to work that out, that’s the only way that I’ve seen.”

Burnard goes by the nickname “The Buffalo Solider.”

He won his first two Power Slap matches by TKO, before suffering his first loss.

Burnard’s back to slap this Friday in Las Vegas for Power Slap 6.

The next step towards achieving his new dream.

“My goal and aspirations is to get that belt,” Burnard said. “That heavyweight belt, that Power Slap belt, and bring it back to Buffalo. Those are my aspirations and those are my goals and that’s really the path for me. Up until I can’t do it no more, that’s what I plan. I enjoy the benefits that come with it. The exposure, not only to myself, but home.”