Eddie Hearn is bringing new energy to UFC fighter management.
Earlier this year, Hearn signed on to manage UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. This signing came in the midst of Hearn’s ongoing battle with UFC CEO Dana White over the latter’s push into boxing, and as Aspinall continued a quiet feud with the promoter over his eye injury. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that with Aspinall seemingly near a return to action, Hearn is laying the foundation for an inevitable battle with the UFC brass.
“It’s really interesting what’s happening in the UFC right now,” Hearn told Bloody Elbow. “There is a monumental change for the swing of the business. They’ve got to be careful, because at the end of the day, I’m not going to let Tom Aspinall fight for the kind of money that’s in his contract, to be involved in a fight against [Alex] Pereira or [Ciryl] Gane for literally one fiftieth of the revenue for that show. F*ck that! I won’t let him do it.
“It’s time those UFC fighters stop being mugs and start to understand that these people are taking advantage of them. They deserve better. They don’t mind paying these [boxers] all this money, but they won’t do it for the UFC fighters.”
The conversation around the difference in pay between boxing and MMA has been a source of contention for years in the combat sports world, but has particularly come to a head recently as White and TKO have begun their push into boxing while also attempting to change the Ali Act.
The presence of the Ali Act and the lack of one dominant controlling force is one of the primary reasons top boxers make so much of the revenue generated from their fights, and as he’s now more involved in MMA, Hearn believes his client is getting screwed.
“I’m saying my advice to Tom Aspinall will be, ‘Don’t you dare take that fight for the money that’s in your contract. You are one of the biggest stars in UFC. That fight against Pereira or Gane is one of the biggest fights the UFC can make,’” Hearn said.
“I will tell you the number in time, if we get to that. UFC fans, everybody will be sick to their stomach about the money Tom Aspinall is supposed to get for that fight, for the revenue that exists for that fight. It’s not fair.
“We’re not trying to be unreasonable, but my advice to him is, ‘Mate, you don’t need them. You nearly lost your eyesight. You had four operations on your eyes, and you want to go back and fight for virtually nothing in this fight, in a rematch?’ He knows no better; he’s a fighter. Trust me when I say I know what I’m talking about, and it’s outrageous. And I will do everything I can to not allow it.”
Aspinall still has no set return date, but he’s expected to defend his heavyweight title in a unification bout against the winner of the interim title fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane that takes place next Saturday at UFC White House.
Read the full article here
