IFL.tv<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m not saying I\u2019m different but we\u2019re very different to Dana White and those guys. They don\u2019t give a f*ck about the fighters.<\/p>\n\u201cHave you ever seen\u2014and I know he\u2019s got to be impartial\u2014but 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 \u2018life is sweet, we just made $800 million this year.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t think when Dalton [Smith] wins, that\u2019s me putting on this act of jumping in the ring like an absolute clown, diving on the floor looking like Humpty Dumpty? That\u2019s because I care,\u201d Hearn said. \u201cIf you think \u2018you\u2019re a p*ssy\u2019 for showing emotion or caring, then so be it. We\u2019re very different people.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I do care and it did hurt and I do feel massively betrayed but at the same time, I haven\u2019t been moping around this week going \u2018Oh my god, it still cuts so deep.\u2019 You just look at it and go I know what you are and that\u2019s it and you\u2019ve got to live with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Hearn accepts that Benn is no longer represented by Matchroom Boxing, he says the whole situation rubbed him the wrong way because he\u2019s convinced the boxer sought out a new deal behind his back.<\/p>\n
Even when he reached out to Benn afterwards, Hearn\u2019s request to speak over the phone was rebuffed. Hearn doesn\u2019t regret showing he\u2019s upset about how it all played out and if that\u2019s what White believes makes him a \u201cp*ssy\u201d then so be it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen someone like Dana sits there and goes \u2018Have you ever seen a bigger p*ssy than this guy? Get over it,\u2019\u201d Hearn said. \u201cI won\u2019t get over it because it hurt. Now if you think because I show hurt, if that makes me a p*ssy because I\u2019m not a tough guy [and say,] \u2018Who\u2019s going to carry the boats \u2026 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!\u2019 That\u2019s great for Instagram. I\u2019m just giving you the reality. It hurt. That doesn\u2019t make me a p*ssy.<\/p>\n
\u201cCall 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\u2019s the most wonderful gift.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hearn promises White\u2019s insults didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, this is so good for me,\u201d Hearn explained. \u201cYou\u2019re sitting at your UFC press conference and you\u2019re talking about me. It terms of me building a profile or brand in the U.S., this is golden.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more they talk about me, the better. But I don\u2019t go away from that going \u2018I can\u2019t believe he called me a p*ssy.\u2019 I go, this is really on.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
So how does Hearn feel about Alalshikh leading the effort to take one of his top fighters?<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no problem with Turki Alalshikh at all,\u201d Hearn said. \u201c\u2018Oh do you feel like he\u2019s done this to you behind your back?\u2019 Probably, yeah but I don\u2019t blame Turki Alalshikh. It\u2019s just what he does.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I know he does and when he needs me, we\u2019ll do business. And when he doesn\u2019t need me, or he wants to try and f*ck me, he might f*ck me. But at least I know.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eddie Hearn isn\u2019t losing any sleep over his war of words with Dana White. The Matchroom Boxing promoter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,6102,913,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-456942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-news","tag-latest-news","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}