Dana White has no problem negotiating with anybody representing UFC fighters and that now includes Eddie Hearn.
On Thursday, UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall announced he was signing with Hearn’s new Matchroom Talent Agency where the famed boxing promoter is now going to represent him in all aspects of his business — including his fight career. Of course, Hearn has engaged in a contentious verbal battle with White over the past couple of months and the rivalry got ratcheted up after Zuffa Boxing signed Conor Benn away from Matchroom.
Hearn scored the latest salvo by signing Aspinall but White promises that didn’t get under his skin and he doesn’t expect that to cause some kind of riff between the UFC and the reigning heavyweight champion.
“We don’t have any issues with Eddie,” White said during the UFC 326 pre-fight press conference. “They can get whoever they want to represent them. Tito Ortiz used to represent people and we got it done.”
White has famously touted his ability to negotiate with anybody when it comes to making fights and he usually uses Ortiz as the prime example after they endured one of the most volatile relationships between a promoter and fighter in history.
Ortiz eventually moved onto represent fighters and that reignited a new kind of working relationship with White but he obviously didn’t seem bothered by those past dealings.
Right now, Aspinall is still recovering from double eye surgery to repair the damage done from his fight against Ciryl Gane this past October when he suffered a brutal eye poke that ended the title bout in the opening round.
Since then, Aspinall has been trying to recover and more recently revealed that he had a procedure done on both eyes. He still hasn’t set a timeline for his return but Aspinall did announce he was getting “back to business” by signing with Hearn.
“I have signed with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom on a commercial advisory deal,” Aspinall said. “We’ve done most of my career with the really small team that I’ve got but I wanted to add to my value. Eddie’s someone that I’ve known for a fair bit, I trust Eddie and I want to make as much money and grow commercially as much as possible while I’m fighting. Obviously, we’re still recovering but I’m looking to get back in there as soon as possible.”
White previously said that he always got along with Hearn but after launching Zuffa Boxing, the British promoter started creating tension between them and effectively said he was ready to go to battle.
The UFC CEO never shied away from responding in the escalating war of words but definitely scored a vicious blow by signing Benn away from Hearn’s company. Now Hearn has delivered his own body shot by signing to represent Aspinall and he’ll likely sit directly across from White when it comes time for the UFC heavyweight champion to compete again.
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