Tom Aspinall has opened up about signing with rival Eddie Hearn amid his Dana White feud.
Despite the backlash from his most recent outing, the Brit is still the UFC heavyweight champion and will have his eyes firmly planted on the winner of the upcoming Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane clash at the White House. In his absence from the octagon, Aspinall has had to endure constant abuse from both fans and fellow fighters following the disappointing ending to his title defense at UFC 321.
During his time on the sidelines, Tom Aspinall has recognized the shift in support and is now focused on advancing his own career without appeasing the masses. Since deciding to be more selfish in hopes of maximizing the remaining years he has in combat sports and to boost the business he does outside of fighting, Aspinall moved away from being represented by his father and signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Talent Agency.
The timing of the move came as a surprise to many, considering Hearn’s escalating feud with Dana White. However, Aspinall believes now is the right time to have representation and explained exactly why he chose the boxing promoter.
“We’ve met probably just about every MMA representation person, whether it be a manager, commercial advisor, whatever you want to call it; someone who represents athletes,” Aspinall said. “We’ve probably met just about everyone in the MMA space at this point. We’ve had meetings, had food, had a coffee, had a phone call, whatever. But, I don’t know, man. Something about Eddie and something about Frank and the whole team, they’re just, sometimes when you look across from somebody and spend real time with them, you just get a good feeling from them. And those are definitely my kind of people.”
“I just feel like instantly we’re on the same wavelength. Instantly, the trust was there. I don’t know what it is. I’m sure you’ve experienced it before. Sometimes in life, you meet people, and you just click, and I felt like we all just clicked and it works.”
After achieving championship success inside the octagon, Tom Aspinall has shifted his focus away from chasing legacy. Instead, he is now focused on making as much money as possible as he navigates through the latter stages of his career.
Aspinall sees Eddie Hearn as the perfect partner to advise him in business decisions to make that dream a reality.
“Very happy with it all,” Aspinall continued. “Very happy to be a part of Matchroom. Very happy to be working with Eddie, working with Frank, working with the rest of the team. This was just about making my team bigger, as far as media and commercial value and stuff like that. We’ve just got a really, really small team and I wanted to widen that, to grow that, and I believe that Eddie and the guys at Matchroom are the guys to do it with.
“So, Eddie and Matchroom, they’re like commercial advisors for me. That’s the role that they’re going to play. They’re going to advise. My dad is still my manager. He’s been my manager from the beginning; he will be my manager until the end. But, if we need to tag Eddie in, we will tag him in… Some UFC fighters, they don’t even care if they win or lose. They just want to fight. And they’re happy that they’re getting paid for it. And that’s great. If you’re cut from that cloth, good for you. But with me, I want to make as much money as I possibly can make. So, I’m exploring every option that I can do.”