Dana White is not short on enemies. Despite their once-flourishing relationship, White has seen his rapport with boxing promoter Eddie Hearn quickly corrode.
Zuffa Boxing is the new kid on the block and has promised to do things much differently, delivering a fresh approach to the sweet science, but not everyone is a fan. The vision White and co have for the sport has been hit with backlash since their many announcements over the past year.
The latest to join in on the public lashing of Dana White and Zuffa Boxing is Eddie Hearn. The British sports promoter and chairman of Matchroom Boxing didn’t take well to White’s comments, after the UFC CEO likened competing against the established promoters, such as Hearn, to beating up babies.
“I wouldn’t say up my a**, but Dana’s always been so complimentary about us as a company and me as a promoter,” Hearn said in response to White’s comments. “But to say that I don’t have any vision is really quite strange.”
“I mean, right now, when you talk about Zuffa’s, or whatever it’s called. When you talk about their vision, what’s their vision? What, getting Max Kellerman to tell everyone that Callum Walsh is the next Roy Jones? Or putting Charles Martin on a headline show on a Sunday night in front of 126 people in your garage, in a ring that looks like you’ve just got it out of a local club show? I mean, what sort of f***ing vision’s that?”
Dana White has made it clear about his intentions to move away from the traditional boxing sanctioning bodies through his new promotion.
Zuffa Boxing recently announced its new world title, only eligible to boxers competing under their banner. Instead of co-operating with the WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO, White wants to have his own championships and self-contained rankings, similar to the structure the UFC employs, which has caused a stir in boxing.
“Better still, there’s a belt. There’s Zuffa. Look at the vision,” Hearn continued. “That’s not vision, that’s control. Because the reality is, when he says we can’t compete, they can’t compete in this cutthroat world of boxing. Because it’s a horrible world, and they don’t want to compete. They want to create their own world.”
“Listen, at the moment, when you compare Matchroom shows to Zuffa shows, quite frankly, Zuffa shows are absolute, complete dogsh*t.”
Despite his doubts, Eddie Hearn believes Zuffa Boxing will improve. Hearn thinks the owners of the new company will throw money at fighters to sign with them, but claims they’re still nowhere near the level they need to be to sway fans.
“They’re gonna get better, and they’re gonna sign some big fighters. They’re gonna [spend] some money. They’re gonna waste some money. I’ve said it before, they’re clever people.”
“But right now, they’re trying to manipulate fight fans. And they don’t understand how intelligent fight fans are when it comes to boxing. You can’t create these cards and tell everyone it’s the best vs. the best, because it’s quite frankly not.”
The verbal assault continued when Eddie Hearn responded to Dana White, who said he is just Barry Hearn’s son.
“The reality is, yes, I do work for my dad. But guess what? Dana White has worked for his daddy for a long time. The Fertita brothers, that’s who he worked for. And right now, Dana White’s got a new daddy, and his name is Turki Alalshikh. Turki Alalshikh is Dana White’s papi. And he has got to do whatever he is told… He’s right at the bottom of the pile in terms of quality as a boxing promoter.”
Oh my pic.twitter.com/QBgrlV0pUj
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 18, 2026