Eddie Hearn believes Dana White doesn’t know what he is doing with
Zuffa Boxing.
Zuffa Boxing is the latest venture of
UFC parent company TKO. Zuffa was initially billed as a boxing
league that would function like the UFC, with the best fighters
competing under a single banner. However, Hearn, White’s archrival,
doesn’t think Zuffa has played out as planned. Hearn believes the
UFC brass is too arrogant to realize what their competitors are
doing in boxing. Hearn notes that Zuffa has barely put any
superstars in action yet. Hearn also slammed Zuffa for being stuck
at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, instead of hosting events in bigger
arenas.
Stuck in Neutral
“These guys, very smart, very powerful,” Hearn told Fight Hub TV. “I don’t think they know what
they’re doing in boxing. I think they’re just kind of like, ‘Sign
him, sign him. Oh, we need some welterweights.’ When they started
the whole thing, it was this league. The new league for boxing.
Where is the league? We’re six months in. And all we’ve seen is
five shows with a load of randoms on it… One really big signing in
Conor Benn, who’s not fighting in any of the shows. He’s fighting
in Ring boxing. And they’re stuck in the Apex still. Are you gonna
come out of there?”
White intensified the rivalry with Hearn by poaching one of the
latter’s biggest fighters, Conor Benn, to Zuffa. Benn’s $15-million
Zuffa signing also received backlash from UFC fighters, who
complained about not earning even a fraction of that amount despite
bringing in the lion’s share of revenue. Meanwhile, Hearn recently
became the manager of UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who is
currently not on the best terms with the promotion.