Eddie Hearn believes Tom Aspinall has an awful UFC contract.
Hearn, who now serves as a representative of the UFC heavyweight champion, has been clashing with Dana White through the media for months now. As Aspinall prepares to make his return to the octagon, Hearn was asked about fighter pay in the UFC, and referenced Aspinall’s current deal specifically.
“I’m going to bite my tongue a little bit, for now,” Hearn told media members, (h/t Pro Boxing Fans). “But what I will tell you is his contract is a f*cking disgrace. Right? A disgrace.”
As of now, there’s no timetable for a return for Aspinall following a no-contest in his most recent title defense against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 this past October. The bout ended prematurely in the first round after Gane delivered a nasty eye poke to Aspinall, which the champ is still recovering from.
Aspinall now sits back and prepares to watch Gane face Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight title at UFC White House in June. Hearn says Aspinall is excited to get back to action, but if he were the U.K. star, he wouldn’t even takes the UFC’s calls for a fight with the contract he’s on.
“I cannot believe the money that he’s on when you look at the commercial revenue that his fight would generate against a Pereira, or against a Gane in a rematch,” Hearn explained. “Honestly, if I’m Tom Aspinall, I’m looking at that contract, I go, ‘I don’t even think you should f*cking bother me.
“But he wants to come back. He wants to rematch Gane. He wants to fight Pereira. He wants to defend his world heavyweight title.”
UFC pay has been a topic of conversation for years now. While White, and the UFC and TKO brass continuously say pay is going up, many fighters have said otherwise.
Knowing what he knows about Aspinall’s deal, Hearn says there’s a long way to go for the fighter pay to be up to par.
“By the time you pay your tax and paid your team, there’s no f*cking point in even fighting,” Hearn said. “Especially when you’ve had four operations after your eyes got gouged out.”
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