Dana White and Eddie Hearn once considered each other friends but that relationship has changed dramatically over the past few months as the promoters have engaged in a nasty war of words and it even got to the point where they were challenging each other to a fight.
While a lot of the animosity has been built around White launching Zuffa Boxing, which is a direct challenge to Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, the bad blood has even boiled over to the UFC. After Zuffa signed Conor Benn to a deal after he spent almost his entire career with Hearn, the veteran boxing promoter then became UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall’s agent and manager.
Most recently, Hearn went as far as daring White to release Aspinall from his contract because he alleges the terms of the deal are “absolutely disgusting” and he’s being paid far less than his worth. Of course there’s almost zero chance White would actually release Aspinall from his contract and UFC legend Matt Brown says it’s just showing that Hearn is getting too emotionally charged for a battle that he’s losing.
“I think he’s overvaluing his role as a manager of a UFC fighter,” Brown said about Hearn on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “I don’t think he really understands how this works. It’s not boxing. It is a different world. I feel like Dana’s not the guy you really want to have a feud with, especially Dana coming into boxing. This time right now, Dana’s close friends with the president. You better have all the cards stacked in your favor if you’re going to go and talk shit to Dana White. You want to start talking, having problems with Dana? You better have your f*cking ducks in a row. Clearly, he didn’t.
“I like Eddie Hearn. I’m not talking shit about him. I’m saying what did Dana do? He went and grabbed his top star [Conor Benn] and had him fight for [Zuffa Boxing]. Eddie’s response is ‘well, I’m going to manage your guy.’ You’re losing there. Eddie’s like ‘we’ll fight.’ We’re not teenagers. He’s in a tough situation.”
Brown spent the better part of 15 years with the UFC and he never had a combative relationship with White or any of the other executives but he’s definitely seen plenty of people try that tactic.
While there are definitely examples where fighters fought out a deal and left in free agency, the idea that the grass is always greener elsewhere isn’t true.
In Aspinall’s case, he competes in a remarkably shallow division and his best option outside the UFC would be facing somebody like Francis Ngannou but then the well likely runs dry again. It’s the same reason why Ngannou just recently fought Philipe Lins as an overwhelming favorite because heavyweight just doesn’t have a plethora of top stars lingering around.
“I don’t get the math that he’s adding up in his head,” Brown said about Hearn. “Maybe there’s shit going on that I don’t understand either but it just doesn’t add up from everything we’re seeing in the public and everything he’s saying publicly. I don’t know even what he’s going to do with Tom Aspinall. What would he even expect to do with him? Put him in a boxing match? There’s really one fight that people will want to see him and maybe there’s two.
“Maybe they want to see him fight Rico Verhoeven now. I think that’d be kind of cool personally but are they going to rebuild him as a boxing star? I think that’s an uphill battle.”
It’s unlikely Aspinall would even jump at the chance to face Verhoeven considering they are good friends and have spent ample time training together over the past few years.
But more than anything, Brown just isn’t sure why Hearn is poking the bear by constantly jabbing at the UFC while simultaneously attempting to put Aspinall in a position to succeed when he returns to action after suffering a gruesome eye injury in his previous outing.
If anything, Brown feels like Hearn is allowing White to bring the worst out of him and it’s not going to help matters much when it comes time for Aspinall to book his next fight.
“These aren’t the guys you want to be messing with, especially when you ain’t got all your ducks in a row,” Brown said. “It’s almost like Dana played the Conor [McGregor] game on him. He got Eddie’s emotions riled up and now Eddie’s making bad business decisions based off those emotions.
“I think Eddie Hearn’s a smart guy, I think he’s a great promoter and I think he’s well-spoken. He represents his guys well. I think he represents his promotion well. It seems to me in this little feud that Dana’s pulling the worst out of him. I don’t know Eddie personally but these things he’s doing publicly and saying, it doesn’t feel to me it’s authentic. It feels to me like Dana’s pulling emotions out of him, which tells me Dana’s winning the game.”
Brown spent enough time around White and the UFC to know how they operate and this ongoing battle is probably only going to end one way and it’s highly unlikely to favor Hearn.
“These aren’t the guys you want to f*ck with,” Brown said. “You’ve got to do your thing really well, all them to do their thing really well, and stay side by side. Dana’s the old school gangster. He grew up in Whitey Bulger times in Boston. I just don’t feel like that’s the guy you want to f*ck with.
“If this is a fight, Dana’s on the verge of some 10-8 rounds. You’ve got to get a knockout now to win!”
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