Turki Alalshikh’s trolling posts continue to attract attention on X, formerly Twitter, one of which recently appeared to target Eddie Hearn, in an apparent response to the Matchroom chairman saying Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority head was Dana White’s new “daddy” — i.e., financial backer of the UFC boss’s upstart fight firm underneath the TKO Group umbrella, Zuffa Boxing.
“Eddie, come and put your head on the chest of your father, I will give you a warm hug,” Alalshikh said, via The Ring, a publication he owns. “The world is filled with evil people.”
It wasn’t the only post from Alalshikh, who also commented on his personal account.
“Eddie, don’t worry, I am always here for you,” he said, before referencing the dramatic break-up between long-standing Matchroom talent Conor Benn, who had been primed to take the box office baton from Hearn’s established stars Anthony Joshua and Katie Taylor, but defected in stunning fashion to Zuffa. “If you call, unlike Conor Benn, I will answer the phone.”
Speaking to Boxing Social‘s Matthew Lenihan backstage at a Friday press event to introduce the UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall as a Matchroom Talent Agency acquisition, Hearn addressed the tomfoolery.
“They think that kind of thing is hilarious,” Hearn summarized.
“Turki is the king of f***ery, he loves it. He loves all this.”
Having signed Aspinall, a deal that will see Hearn represent the UFC star’s interests inside the Octagon and outside of it, Alalshikh, Hearn said, will be fist-pumping the air, bellowing, “Yes, Eddie!”
“Because he loves that,” according to Hearn.
“I think [his tweets were] in response to my comments saying he was Dana’s daddy. I’m due to see those guys soon, and we expect to do a lot of business with them, and if we don’t — I keep saying — our business is not reliant on Turki Alalshikh, we want to keep working with him [as there are] great opportunities for our fighters, our business, and I enjoy it.
“People keep saying to me, is Turki out to get you? Not really, but if he is, no surprise. He’s never gone to me, ‘Eddie, me and you, mate, like family. I’d do anything for you.’ He just says, ‘Whatever suits me, I will do. So when you’ve got something that suits me, we’ll do business. And if you haven’t, I’ll most likely f*** you’.”
For Hearn, that approach to business it’s just fine because, as he says, “at least you know where you stand.”
Watch the interview in full right here.
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