Dana White didn’t waste a chance to rub salt into the wound in his first public comments since Zuffa Boxing’s stunning heist of Conor Benn. Just one day after Benn shocked the boxing world by defecting from Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, White took a gleeful victory lap at Hearn’s expense.
«I think you saw this week, I am really beating up babies,» White said in a profanity-laced rant at UFC Houston’s post-fight press conference.
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«Is there a bigger p**** than Eddie Hearn? Is there a bigger p**** than Eddie Hearn? This guy [Benn] is supposed to be your friend. You’re f***ing crying? He made more money [with Zuffa]. He’s going to make more money — and [Hearn] had the right to match it. He could’ve matched it.»
Zuffa Boxing — the new boxing organization helmed by UFC CEO White, WWE President Nick Khan and Saudi fight financier Turki Alalshikh — has just three shows under its belt, yet it already has rankled many within the old guard of the boxing’s promotional world. Zuffa’s aggressive pursuit of rewriting the rules of boxing with its push for the controversial Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, in addition to a signing spree that’s included top cruiserweight Jai Opetaia, has left no doubt that White’s new organization means business within a historically splintered sport.
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But Benn’s decision to leave his longtime home at Matchroom for a reported one-fight, $15 million deal with Zuffa marked the most seismic blow yet in White’s war against Hearn and other promotional rivals.
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Benn was one of the fighters most associated with Hearn’s brand, and indeed Hearn guided the 29-year-old welterweight to superstardom in their native UK despite facing significant adversity.
In his first comments Friday night following the news, a somber Hearn admitted to iFL TV that he was left «pretty devastated.» Hearn said he learned of Benn’s decision through an email from the boxer’s lawyer and was ultimately denied even a phone call with Benn despite their nearly 10-year partnership.
«I made a mistake, because I misjudged [Benn’s] character,» Hearn said.
«When I received the email from his lawyer, I texted him and said, ‘I think we should have a call. I think for everything I’ve done for you, I think I deserve a call.’ And he said, ‘No.’ And I was like, ‘Man, f***, I can’t believe it.'»
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When told about Hearn’s claims Saturday night, White merely scoffed.
«What a crock of s***,» he said. «Yeah, we’re literally beating up babies.»
«Judge us at the end of the year for the work that we do this year,» White added. «At the end of the year, you judge what you think we’ve accomplished in one year in the sport of boxing.»
