Eddie Hearn isn’t losing any sleep over his war of words with Dana White.
The Matchroom Boxing promoter has been caught up in a growing rivalry with White and Zuffa Boxing, especially after the new promotion backed by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, signed Conor Benn, who had been represented by Hearn for most of his career. In the aftermath of Zuffa inking a deal with Benn on a one-fight deal, Hearn admitted it definitely stung given his long relationship with the British boxer and White fired back at the UFC Houston post-fight press conference saying “is there a bigger p*ssy than Eddie Hearn?”
Hearn heard those comments and has responded in kind.
“I hear people’s comments like Dana White [saying] ‘Eddie Hearn is a p*ssy,’ Terence Crawford [saying,] ‘Do you think Eddie Hearn actually cares about these guys?’” Hearn told IFL.tv. “I’m not saying I’m different but we’re very different to Dana White and those guys. They don’t give a f*ck about the fighters.
“Have you ever seen—and I know he’s got to be impartial—but have you ever seen Dana White show any emotion when someone wins? He gets in, gives the belt, comes back, does his presser and f*cks off to his massive gaff with a cigar and whiskey and goes f*cking ‘life is sweet, we just made $800 million this year.’”
Hearn admitted he gets emotional when watching one of his fighters succeed and the same goes for losing an athlete like Benn, who he maintained a close relationship with for years while working together.
“You can’t think when Dalton [Smith] wins, that’s me putting on this act of jumping in the ring like an absolute clown, diving on the floor looking like Humpty Dumpty? That’s because I care,” Hearn said. “If you think ‘you’re a p*ssy’ for showing emotion or caring, then so be it. We’re very different people.
“But I do care and it did hurt and I do feel massively betrayed but at the same time, I haven’t been moping around this week going ‘Oh my god, it still cuts so deep.’ You just look at it and go I know what you are and that’s it and you’ve got to live with that.”
While Hearn accepts that Benn is no longer represented by Matchroom Boxing, he says the whole situation rubbed him the wrong way because he’s convinced the boxer sought out a new deal behind his back.
Even when he reached out to Benn afterwards, Hearn’s request to speak over the phone was rebuffed. Hearn doesn’t regret showing he’s upset about how it all played out and if that’s what White believes makes him a “p*ssy” then so be it.
“When someone like Dana sits there and goes ‘Have you ever seen a bigger p*ssy than this guy? Get over it,’” Hearn said. “I won’t get over it because it hurt. Now if you think because I show hurt, if that makes me a p*ssy because I’m not a tough guy [and say,] ‘Who’s going to carry the boats … when this happens to me, I just get up every morning and I just f*cking roll my sleeves up and I go to the gym and we take on the world!’ That’s great for Instagram. I’m just giving you the reality. It hurt. That doesn’t make me a p*ssy.
“Call me a p*ssy. I care. I care about the fighters. Nothing makes me happier than someone achieving their dreams. Few things make me happier than seeing someone happy. I think it’s the most wonderful gift.”
Hearn promises White’s insults didn’t really get under his skin because he saw the whole ordeal as a positive, especially for a British-based promoter taking up so much time during a UFC post-fight press conference in the U.S.
“First, this is so good for me,” Hearn explained. “You’re sitting at your UFC press conference and you’re talking about me. It terms of me building a profile or brand in the U.S., this is golden.
“The more they talk about me, the better. But I don’t go away from that going ‘I can’t believe he called me a p*ssy.’ I go, this is really on.”
Zuffa Boxing signing Benn garnered all the headlines but in reality, White had nothing to do with the money being paid to lure him away from Hearn and Matchroom.
Under terms of the deal, Zuffa Boxing is fully funded by SELA (the organization headed up by Alalshikh) and TKO Group Holdings (parent company to both the UFC and Zuffa Boxing) is paid a handsome fee per event to act as organizers and promoters.
So how does Hearn feel about Alalshikh leading the effort to take one of his top fighters?
“I have no problem with Turki Alalshikh at all,” Hearn said. “‘Oh do you feel like he’s done this to you behind your back?’ Probably, yeah but I don’t blame Turki Alalshikh. It’s just what he does.
“But I know he does and when he needs me, we’ll do business. And when he doesn’t need me, or he wants to try and f*ck me, he might f*ck me. But at least I know.”
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