UFC President Dana White has beefed with plenty of boxing promoters over the years, from Showtime to Oscar de la Hoya, the latter of whom he labelled a “lying, two-faced, hypocritical sack of sh*t”. He’s found a friend, however, in British promoter Eddie Hearn, who told The MMA Hour that he admires Dana White’s business acumen and his plans for “world domination”.
“I’ve found him very welcoming and — respectful’s the wrong word, because he doesn’t have to be respectful to me — but I take people how they come across and how they treat me.
Eddie Hearn Praises Dana White’s Plan for “World Domination”
And when I went to the UFC Performance Center, when Daniel Jacobs was training to fight Canelo, he was actually watching his son on the pads and he said, ‘Do you want to have a tour around?’ He took me over the new facility at the time that was being built,” Hearn recently said on The MMA Hour. “I think sometimes people get a bad name, bad rep, but you should always take them on face value, and I found him very welcoming.”
Hearn continued, pointing out that he wants to do for boxing what Dana White did for MMA. He wants to be the biggest brand in the game, synonymous with the sport itself.
“I think he’s really good at what he does. A lot of what we do as a business follows suit from the UFC. I never mind admitting that I tell our team, watch what they’re doing.
In terms of everything, from the live streams of the press conferences to the graphics, to the look and feel, the branding, everything. So I believe that I’m definitely the best promoter in boxing, but I do think Dana White is a bit of an icon in that respect […]
What he’s done in MMA is very similar to what we want to do in boxing — in many respects, not all respects — which is domination. Global domination and building a brand to a point where when you go to a new city or a new town or a new country, the credibility of a Matchroom event or an Eddie Hearn event will almost draw people to that.
Not as much as the talent, but that’s where they’re so strong. When the UFC comes to London, the UFC sells out before you even know who’s on. The quality of the card, the fight has got to stand the test of time, but it’s building that brand where you just recognize the quality and you recognize that as a great night out.” Do you agree with Eddie Hearn? Let us know in the comments.
