The war of words between combat sports heavyweights Eddie Hearn and Dana White has escalated further — and the feud shows no signs of cooling.
The latest shot came after UFC and Zuffa boxing boss White took aim at boxing promoter and Matchroom Sport chairman Hearn, calling him a ‘p***y’, prompting Hearn to fire back in typically blistering fashion.
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Tensions have been simmering ever since White announced his foray into the boxing world, muscling in on Matchroom’s long-established territory.
Hearn’s latest comments come after White publicly insisted that he didn’t see Hearn as a rival promoter – instead describing him as just another manager.
Speaking to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani on Tuesday, Hearn didn’t hold back.
“Boxing’s not for him,” said Hearn.
“It’s the worst business in the world and I didn’t expect him to implode this early.
“There’s four or five clips, he hasn’t stopped talking about me.
“He’s called me out for a fight — a fight! Then, he says I’m not competition.
“And I agree. He cannot lace my boots.”
Hearn didn’t stop there, accusing White of misleading boxing fans.
“He’s spinning a narrative like he’s created these unbelievable blockbuster shows in stadiums.
“He ain’t out the garage yet. Literally, four shows in, and it’s absolutely bang-average content.
“To say we’re not a competitor is the most bizarre statement, when we’re coming out of sell-out shows in the UK, America, world championship fights.
“What Zuffa is doing at the moment, is if we were in COVID, I’d say, ‘You are doing okay.’
“You can’t even be bothered to leave your office, where you’ve got 200 people watching – supposedly a world championship fight, which, by the way, wasn’t actually a world championship fight…
“If you listen to it, it’s literally like every show they’ve done is a stadium sellout with pound-for-pound stars in unification fights, and it’s just set the sport alight.
“They have done nothing at all.”
White claimed he had nothing against Hearn when Zuffa Boxing launched — but it was Hearn who fired the first shot by challenging him.
“To be honest with you, when I got into this and started this, I wasn’t going to mess with Eddie Hearn at all,” White told IFL.TV.
“And then Eddie uncharacteristically comes out and just starts going crazy and saying all this stuff. Then he starts saying stuff like ‘I look forward to competing with him, I’m going to show him who the real [promoter is],’ this, that, and all this other stuff.
“Just the way that I’m wired, I’m like Eddie, are we fighting? Are we going to fight here? OK, let’s fight.”
White landed a blow by signing Conor Benn to a lucrative deal with Zuffa Boxing, despite the Brit having spent his entire career under Hearn’s banner.
Hearn later admitted he felt deeply wounded, seeing Benn’s move as a personal betrayal.
Hearn responded by signing UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in a “commercial and advisory” deal.
Hearn describes himself as Aspinall’s “manager,” emphasising that his focus is on “building Tom commercially.”
Aspinall ruled out boxing any time soon, remaining under contract with the UFC, which stops competitors from competing elsewhere without approval.
“Right now it’s about moving forward with Tom,” Hearn said.
“Building him commercially, growing his profile, and strengthening his connection with brands and fans.
“And also making sure he gets exactly what he deserves, given the commercial clout he has as a fighter.”
Unbelievably, the rivalry has even spilled into the ring, after Piers Morgan floated the idea of a White-Hearn boxing match last week.
“Listen, if Eddie wants to box, we can box. We can box if Eddie wants to box. I don’t think Eddie wants to box,” White said on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
“Yeah, [I’d be confident of winning]. Listen, back in the day, I used to box with all the guys, boxers and UFC guys. I have boxed. Absolutely [we could box].”
Hearn said he would be up for a fight – and even suggested he’d flatten the UFC boss.
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“How mad is it that in one week Dana White has called me a p***y on several occasions and called me out for a fight,” he said on The Stomping Ground.
“Things must be going really well to be fair. But anyway, back to that. Whenever someone’s talking about me fighting someone in the boxing game, I’ve always said yes because I know I’d win.”