Dana White twisted his knife into Eddie Hearn one day after announcing Zuffa Boxing had acquired one of Matchroom’s biggest commodities Conor Benn.
Benn’s move to Zuffa cannot be underestimated. It’s a devastating look for Hearn’s operations, and shows White, Nick Khan, and Tom Loeffler’s upstart isn’t just a ProBox 2.0 — it also wants boxing‘s marquee events. DAZN broadcaster Chris Mannix suggested the agreement was only a one-fight deal but commanded eight figures. Veteran reporter Dan Rafael then reported it was $15 million.
Eddie Hearn told iFL TV it was his mistake believing he had a gentleman’s agreement with Benn, having failed to lock him down to an extended contract. He even said Benn’s lawyer only alerted him of the offer through an email, and when Hearn text Benn saying his advocacy of the fighter during a drug scandal perhaps deserved a phone call, the response, Hearn said, was, “No.”
“I forgot it was boxing,” Hearn said.
Following a UFC Fight Night event in Houston’s Toyota Center in Texas, The MacLife reporter Oscar Willis asked White for his reaction to not only capturing Conor, but doing so from Matchroom, and Hearn’s subsequent reaction.
“I think you saw this week — I really am beating up babies,” White said.
“Is there a bigger p**** than Eddie Hearn?”
White said Hearn shouldn’t have been “f****** crying” if Benn really “is supposed to be [his] friend. He’s going to make more money, and he had the right to match it.”
The UFC boss blasted Hearn’s reaction as “a crock of s***” and repeated that the apparent ease in which he’s been able to rollout an actual calendar of events, secure a TV deal with a legacy partner in Paramount+, and attract blue-chip fighters Jai Opetaia and Conor Benn means they’re “literally beating up babies.”
Watch the exchange right here:
