Eddie Hearn vows to block Tom Aspinall from fighting on current UFC contract

Eddie Hearn has drawn a firm line in the sand over Tom Aspinall’s next UFC title defence, declaring he will not allow the heavyweight champion to fight under the terms of his current contract. Speaking to Bloody Elbow, the boxing promoter — who took on Aspinall as a management client earlier this year — said the pay on offer for a potential unification bout against Alex Pereira or Ciryl Gane amounts to roughly one-fiftieth of the revenue such a fight would generate.

“F*ck that! I won’t let him do it,” Hearn said bluntly. “It’s time those UFC fighters stop being mugs and start to understand that these people are taking advantage of them. They deserve better. They don’t mind paying these [boxers] all this money, but they won’t do it for the UFC fighters.”

Hearn’s intervention comes as Aspinall edges closer to a return from the eye injury that required four operations and kept him out of competition. The Englishman is expected to defend his heavyweight title in a unification bout against the winner of the interim title fight between Pereira and Gane, which takes place next Saturday at UFC White House.

The promoter stopped short of revealing the specific figure in Aspinall’s contract but promised to make it public if negotiations reach that stage, suggesting UFC fans would be “sick to their stomach” at the disparity between the fighter’s purse and the event’s total revenue.

“I will tell you the number in time, if we get to that,” Hearn said. “We’re not trying to be unreasonable, but my advice to him is, ‘Mate, you don’t need them. You nearly lost your eyesight. You had four operations on your eyes, and you want to go back and fight for virtually nothing?’ He knows no better; he’s a fighter. Trust me when I say I know what I’m talking about, and it’s outrageous.”

Hearn’s entry into UFC fighter management has unfolded against a backdrop of tension between himself and UFC CEO Dana White, who has been pushing TKO’s expansion into boxing. The pay disparity between the two sports has long been a point of contention in combat sports, but the debate has sharpened recently as TKO moves into boxing while simultaneously lobbying against the Ali Act — the legislation widely credited with giving top boxers significantly greater leverage over their earnings than MMA fighters currently enjoy.

Aspinall has no confirmed return date as yet, but the outcome of next weekend’s Pereira–Gane interim title fight will set the stage for what promises to be a contentious negotiation between Hearn and UFC brass.