Media Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn on the UFC "The problem is with UFC, I feel like they always want the brand to be bigger than that of the fighter"

[DecisionSplit]

Dana has already said on video he doesn't want to pay fighters a lot of money because they won't fight once they make the money.

All those NFL and MLB players with $100 million contracts that quit after one year happen so often.

 

[FlowchartRog]

While this is true, boxing has the opposite problem where the sport is fragmented and top guys won't fight each other

It used to be true. Boxing has been incredible recently, with the best fighting the best in most divisions. Eventually at least.

Unlike say, Jones Vs whoever we want him to fight.

 

[FlowchartRog]

But it works Eddie.

In Boxing they are all about cashcows and protected records. We never got Joshua vs Wilder or Fury.

In MMA we usually get all the fights we want and some more... except some cases like Jones vs Aspinall.

Who cares? That's two examples, and Joshua is one of the most overrated fighters in boxing history. No one cares about Joshua or Wilder anymore.

We got Pacquiao Vs Floyd (eventually), Golovkin Vs Canelo, Tank Vs Garcia (not exactly an amazing fight, but a good fight between two "stars"), Beterbiev Vs Bivol (amazing fight between two undefeated pound for pounders). Years ago we got Canelo Vs Floyd, both undefeated. We got Crawford Vs Spence semi recently, both undefeated at the time. We got Canelo Vs Bivol, very good fight and risky fight for Canelo, turned out he got completely dominated by Dmitrii.

We got the Beterbiev Vs Bivol rematch, even better than the first fight. Usyk Vs everyone, spanking Joshua twice, then schooling Fury twice. We got Usyk Vs Dynamite Daniel, and now the more compelling rematch given that Dubois seems to be at his peak.

Not an example of the best fighting the best, but just the other day Benn Jr moved up 2 divisons and put his undefeated record on the line against Eubank Jr for an epic Son Vs Son battle.

We also have Inoue and Nakatani agreeing to fight, two of the best fighters in the world, both undefeated.

And there's plenty of examples of big/intriguing MMA fights not happening. Obviously Jones Vs 'Gannou never happened, Jones Vs Tom looks like it isn't happening, we didn't get GSP Vs Silva, or Silva Vs Jones.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

i can't even name 6 boxing "sUp3r StaRs" honestly. a couple of heavyweights and some random obscure super bantam small mofos. neither sport has a connor mcgregor type and that's OK. it's all cyclical.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

Can he name 6 current active boxing superstars?

wilder, ukrainian guy, naoya, and that one guy. eddie hearn doesn't realize the average person can't name six boxing super stars either. both sports are d3AD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[podsox]

his sport's best fights of the last 5 years have all been bankrolled by the saudis.
come @ me when you have a business to keep running without oil money handouts

And done during the day in the US where nobody watched

 

[Lord Pyjamas]

Which one of you is Eddie Hearn?​

(We all know he could only have gotten it from here after all).

 

[CC27]

Thats literally the smartest thing UFC ever did as a business/sport. To be able to not only survive but to thrive during down years/times in the sport where guys lose, get hurt, retire, leave etc. To be able to take all that and still be huge and make money, i mean frankly who wouldnt want that if you owned the business?

Eddie would kill to have Matchroom be that.

 

[podsox]

the espn deal allowed the ufc to be lazy. Im
Interested to see if the next rights owner puts more pressure on them because it sounds like ufc ppv numbers are in the gutter

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Funny thing is Dana White is trying to get rid of Muhammad Ali act to spread his plague to boxing again

 

[Sms_productions713]

But it works Eddie.

In Boxing they are all about cashcows and protected records. We never got Joshua vs Wilder or Fury.

In MMA we usually get all the fights we want and some more... except some cases like Jones vs Aspinall.

Don’t forget the obvious goat vs goat matchup that we never got either

 

[JKS]

That’s ultimately why the ufc is as successful as it is

 

[Söze Aldo]

That’s ultimately why the ufc is as successful as it is

Really? Did you start following the UFC because you were enamored with Dana's bald head or the shiny updated UFC logo? Probably not. It was likely at least one fighter who got you interested. The UFC became the big business it is today because it used to have and promote crossover stars like Chuck, GSP, Brock, Ronda, Conor, Silva etc.

I'm sure the long-term goal was always to make the brand itself the main draw, but it's clear that fans are growing tired of the often lackluster, low-effort cards the UFC continues to throw together. Netflix just backed out of what could have been a $1 billion broadcast deal, likely because the data showed how few pay-per-views the UFC is currently selling.

 

[bigfootsbreath]

While this is true, boxing has the opposite problem where the sport is fragmented and top guys won't fight each other

You mean kinda like how the top guys at HW aren't fighting each other bc one is a duck with a leaky vag?

 

[Cartiac]

his sport's best fights of the last 5 years have all been bankrolled by the saudis.
come @ me when you have a business to keep running without oil money handouts

AND those same Saudis are now partnered with the UFC taking away Eddie's bankroll. You can bet Dana is loving every second of hearing Eddie whine and cry about it.

 

[fica]

It's true, Dana is building a company. He couldn't care less about the fighters. That's why they make peanuts and have short careers with no pensions or benefits when they retire. It's a smart way to do business.

Boxing has it's own set of problems.

but company has t produce must buy products and it is not in rest of the world is different but in usa they do not these days

 

[clutchCAT420]

Hes wrong. Dana wants to be the face of mma and ufc. Fuck dana

 

[Doctor Grudge]

Eddie's right. UFC taking the WWE route, easiest way to monopolize.
The funniest thing is that the only reason they aren't a monopoly is because they do and have had competition over the years, they're just the most inept people on the planet.

I dont think monopoly has much to do with it. Pretty much every major sports brand does this, even those that push their stars heavily like the NBA.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Eddie is just bitter because Turki kicked him to the curb and brought in Dana. Also the UFC has way more star power than fucking Matchroom even now during a relative drought.

 

[Boomb]

All those NFL and MLB players with $100 million contracts that quit after one year happen so often.

To be fair, two of the highest paid UFC fighters ever (Conor and Jones) don't fight and it doesn't seem that we will be seeing them in the octagon anytime soon, so he does have a point.