{"id":461659,"date":"2026-03-07T00:23:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/461659\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T00:23:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:23:15","slug":"dana-white-challenges-eddie-hearn-to-boxing-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/461659\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana White Challenges Eddie Hearn To Boxing Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dana White did not talk like a man trying to smooth things over.<\/p>\n

The UFC boss went on Piers Morgan Uncensored<\/a> and threw the line straight across the table. If Eddie Hearn wants to step in a ring, White said, he will meet him there.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, if Eddie wants to box, we can box.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was not said as a joke. White delivered it the way fighters talk in a gym when someone keeps running his mouth.<\/p>\n

The friction has been building since Zuffa confirmed it is launching a boxing project backed by Saudi money. The dispute sharpened when Conor Benn agreed to join that venture.<\/p>\n

White did not sound interested in the emotional angle some promoters tried to paint around the deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole Conor Benn thing, apparently, they\u2019re supposed to be really close,\u201d White said. \u201cConor, who they care about, is going to make some good money for him and his family. He should be happy for him if they\u2019re that friendly and that close, or he should have matched the deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benn\u2019s agreement has been reported around \u00a315 million for a single fight. White did not confirm the figure, but he made his view clear.<\/p>\n

That principle runs through boxing whether promoters like it or not. When contracts expire, fighters follow the best offer. That reality is exactly what worries established promoters as Zuffa starts recruiting.<\/p>\n

White also brushed aside the idea that he is trying to poach fighters tied to existing deals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t confuse business with the personal relationship either\u2026If there\u2019s a guy under contract, you don\u2019t you don\u2019t mess with him, when contracts are up and somebody has the right to to negotiate, all\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he circled back to Hearn again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Eddie wants to box\u2026 Yeah, listen, I used to, back in the day, I used to box with all the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressed again on whether he would actually fight Hearn, White did not hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n

This argument is bigger than two promoters trading lines in interviews. Zuffa is trying to build a centralized structure in a sport built on rival promoters, television deals, and alphabet bodies guarding their belts.<\/p>\n

That shift threatens the business model people like Hearn have worked for years to build.<\/p>\n

And when fighters start following the money, promoters start swinging.<\/p>\n

Also on tonight\u2019s show, White spoke about his good friend Donald Trump, the President\u2019s actions in Iran, influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul, and the lawsuit filed by Queensberry promoter Frank Warren<\/a> as tensions rise around Zuffa\u2019s planned move into boxing.<\/p>\n

To watch the full interview tonight, go to https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/PiersMorganUncensored<\/a><\/p>\n

Tom Galm is a boxing journalist who has covered the global fight landscape since 2014, specializing in heavyweight analysis, industry trends, and fighter psychology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dana White did not talk like a man trying to smooth things over. The UFC boss went on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-461659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461659","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=461659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}