The gloves are off with Dana White and Eddie Hearn.
White and Hearn have been chummy in the past and were never shy in showing mutual respect. Things took a bit of a turn when the UFC boss decided to dabble into boxing promotion. The two have since traded barbs over Zuffa Boxing’s potential.
Recently, Hearn blasted the creation of Zuffa Boxing championships. The Matchroom Boxing head honcho criticized the idea of a boxing promotion having its own titles when sanctioning bodies have been in place for decades.
During the post-fight press conference for Zuffa Boxing 3, White questioned Hearn’s ability to be a forward thinker (via MMAJunkie).
“I saw Eddie Hearn saying that the belt is cringey and all this stuff. I don’t think anybody looks at Eddie Hearn and says, ‘Oh this guy’s a visionary,’” White said. “The guy’s been in boxing forever. I look at him like most politicians. You’ve done nothing in the sport except stay in the lane and play by all the rules. You ended up becoming part of the problem, is what happened.
“I don’t want to sit here and smash Eddie Hearn or anything, but Eddie Hearn works for his dad. He works for dad, and I don’t think he’s come in and ever had any type of vision, whereas we do and we’re going to change the entire sport. I understand the people who are the status quo in boxing don’t like it, but it doesn’t mean they can’t still do their thing. If your thing is as good as you think it is, and you are as good as you think you are, then do your thing. Good luck to you. I’m going to do my thing and they’re going to do theirs.”
White has insisted that he isn’t looking to prevent other boxing promoters from continuing to do business. He claims that Zuffa Boxing is focused on its own development rather than trying to run others out of town.
What is your take on the newfound rivalry between Dana White and Eddie Hearn? Sound off in the comment section below.