Dana White Goes Scorched Earth on Boxing Rival Eddie Hearn: “Like Beating Up Babies”

UFC CEO Dana White talks about competitors in the boxing world with his recent promotional works for Zuffa Boxing.

Dana White Goes Scorched Earth on Boxing Rival Eddie Hearn: “Like Beating Up Babies”

Dana White claims he hasn't faced any rivalry in boxing (via X)

In Short
  • Dana White launched Zuffa Boxing, positioning it as a game changer in the boxing industry.
  • The main event of Zuffa Boxing 3 featured Efe Ajagba defeating Charles Martin by TKO.
  • White criticized traditional boxing promoters, claiming they lack the ability to compete with his new venture.

After years of criticizing boxing and its promotions, Dana White has finally started his own boxing venture. Zuffa Boxing is aimed to be the game changer, and White has boldly marketed himself as the savior of boxing. However, traditional boxing circles haven’t been that happy with him, but for White, the competition has not been that strong.

Zuffa Boxing 3 took place last night at the Meta Apex arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a card of rising stars. The main event saw heavyweight contender Efe Ajagba stop former IBF champion Charles Martin via fourth-round TKO. 

Other highlights included a brutal second-round KO by Umar Dzambekov over Ahmed Elbiali and a third-round TKO win by Jaybrio Pe Benito. White was quite happy with the event and, during the press conference, he talked about any potential pushback from traditional boxing promotions.

There hasn’t been any pushback. This is like beating up babies. I feel like I came in and I’m beating up babies. I expected more. I expected some pushback. I expected some, I don’t know, them to be more game. They’re all way out of their league.

Dana White via Zuffa Boxing 3 press conference 

Dana White wants to bring the UFC system into Zuffa Boxing by centralizing control, managing fighters under one banner, and removing promotional conflicts. He plans to implement structured rankings, mandatory contender pathways, and consistent matchmaking.

White has also talked about standardized contracts, event scheduling, and title defenses, creating a clear championship hierarchy similar to the UFC model. Eddie Hearn has been one of the biggest critics of Dana White and recently called the Zuffa Boxing championship ‘cringe’. But according to White, the British promoter was not a visionary and won’t be a rival to his promotion. 

The sport has been out there for over 100 years and there’s plenty of guys that are involved in the sport. There’s plenty of money in the sport. Eddie Hearn and his dad have a lot of money. It’s not like they can’t compete. They can’t compete cause they don’t know how to compete. 

Dana White continued

Similarly, White has received criticism from the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, who publicly trolled White’s venture. “It honestly felt like a COVID bubble show,” said De La Hoya. While responding to the former champion’s criticism on the venue of Zuffa Boxing, White mentioned that De La Hoya was ‘mentally ill’ and was busy suing his fighters.

Boxing legend slams Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing venture 

Dana White and Zuffa Boxing sought changes to the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, aiming to restructure boxing promotion and centralize control under their business model. Critics argued the move would weaken fighter protections, reduce transparency, and undermine financial safeguards created to prevent exploitation and conflicts of interest.

Dana White gets criticized for fighters' pay disparity
Dana White gets criticized for fighters’ pay disparity (via X)

Facing political resistance and backlash from promoters and lawmakers, the proposal stalled, leaving the Ali Act unchanged and fully intact. There has always been a debate around fighter pay in UFC, with fighters claiming they receive very small revenue percentages overall. Only a few superstars secure massive fight purses, while most athletes compete for a comparatively modest show and win money. 

Even the biggest MMA names reportedly earn far less than elite boxing stars commanding enormous guaranteed purses. Recently, boxing legend Roy Jones Jr talked about this in his rant against Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing.

Your guys in the UFC and make more money in boxing in one night than they make their whole career in the UFC. That’s a problem! Balance the problem out. Balance the problem in your sport and make my sport better! But don’t go and take my sport and do the same to do with your sport.

Roy Jones Jr via Fight Hub TV

According to Eddie Hearn, this pay disparity between White’s boxing and MMA ventures can result in UFC fighters revolting. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see how the UFC CEO deals with this in the future.

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