Eddie Hearn, the Matchroom chairman, accused UFC president Dana White of tightly controlling media interviews. Aiming to shield the promotion from scrutiny on fighter pay, saying reporters are told what questions they can ask. According to Hearn segments are pre-screened before publication.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show on March 10, Hearn challenged MMA reporters to ask White a pointed question: why does UFC undisputed heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall (15-3, 10 KOs in MMA) earn “10 times less money” than boxer Conor Benn, despite headlining pay-per-view events and driving comparable or greater revenue?
Hearn argued that the UFC’s media environment is constructed to prevent that kind of interrogation.
“They dictate the questions. They pre-screen the segments before they go out,” Hearn said. He framed the arrangement as one that insulates White from accountability on the sport’s most contentious financial issue.
Can Eddie Hearn change UFC like he has boxing?
Hearn recently signed Aspinall to Matchroom’s talent management division. A deal that gave the promoter direct access to the heavyweight champion’s internal UFC contracts. Hearn said on on March 7 that he was surprised by the contracts:
“I’ve been able to read those contracts and I’ve been able to talk to him about the purses that he’s received,” Hearn said. “The reality is that when he was headlining in front of 20,000 on pay-per-view, he was receiving probably half the amount of money that I would pay a boxer for a British title fight at York Hall, Bethnal Green, in front of 1,200 people.”
“I was absolutely baffled and astonished. Completely unfair.”
The numbers, while difficult to verify independently, reflect the gap Hearn is describing. According to BetMGM’s Sports Blog, Aspinall’s estimated total payout for UFC 321 against Ciryl Gane, including pay-per-view shares and bonuses, was approximately $3.5 million. His base salary for that fight was reported at $500,000.
Conor Benn’s Zuffa contract rocks UFC
Conor Benn, by contrast, earned a reported £8 million (roughly $10.2 million) for his rematch with Chris Eubank Jr., according to Bet365. Benn’s separate deal with Zuffa Boxing, the venture White launched to push into professional boxing, was reported at $15 million.
That last figure sits at the centre of Hearn’s argument. White has positioned himself as a disruptor who will fix boxing’s broken economics, while Hearn argues the UFC president is simultaneously underpaying a world champion inside his own promotion. According to Bloody Elbow, Aspinall was himself “bothered” by the disparity between Benn’s Zuffa payday and his own UFC earnings.
Aspinall paid just £200 for MMA Debut
Aspinall (32) earned £200 for his professional MMA debut in 2014. His base UFC salary started at $20,000 when he joined the roster in 2020. He has collected seven “Performance of the Night” bonuses at $50,000 apiece. His estimated net worth sits around $3 million.
The Hearn-White rivalry has escalated steadily over the past two years, with White publicly mocking traditional boxing promoters while building out Zuffa Boxing. Hearn’s decision to take on Aspinall as a management client added a new layer, putting Matchroom directly at the negotiating table for the UFC champion’s future bouts. Aspinall’s father has publicly urged the fighter not to re-sign with the UFC and to pursue a boxing transition by 2028.
White and the UFC had not publicly responded to Hearn’s comments at the time of writing. With Hearn’s agency now involved in Aspinall’s next contract negotiations, the question of what the UFC heavyweight champion is worth, and who gets to ask it publicly, is unlikely to stay quiet for long.
