The high-stakes feud between UFC and Zuffa Boxing chief Dana White and prominent British boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has intensified significantly, with White taking a direct personal swipe at his rival by effectively branding him a "neptism baby" amid a chaotic promotional battle over a prospective £150 million heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
The two prominent combat sports figures have locked horns repeatedly throughout the year, clashing over various high-profile storylines within the boxing landscape, ranging from Conor Benn’s career trajectory and promotional switches to the logistical nightmares surrounding the planned mega-fight between British heavyweight rivals Fury and Joshua.
Tensions have boiled over continuously over the past month. White, who operates Zuffa Boxing alongside Saudi Arabia’s influential boxing supremo Turki Al-Sheikh, has been positioned as a principal promoter for the heavyweight showdown and reportedly pushed aggressively for the lucrative bout to be staged in New York City.
However, Hearn successfully fought to bring the historic contest back to British soil in Cardiff, maintaining that the signed contract explicitly bars White from having any operational involvement in the event. Hearn even threatened to hold crunch talks with global broadcast partner Netflix regarding White’s unexpected attendance at a volatile press conference in London.
Fueling the bitter rivalry further, White appeared on the Diary of a CEO podcast, where he launched a pointed critique of Hearn’s standing in the industry, suggesting that the Matchroom boxing head owes his position and prominence entirely to his father, legendary British sports promoter Barry Hearn.
"Eddie’s not the guy, Eddie’s dad is the guy," White declared during the podcast appearance. "And I’m not saying this to s*** on Eddie—I’m just being honest. I don’t dislike Eddie. But he’s not the guy; his dad’s the guy."
Barry Hearn has remained a towering figure in global sports promotion since the 1970s, exerting massive influence across multiple disciplines, including boxing, professional darts, and snooker. While Eddie Hearn has successfully stepped out to run Matchroom Sport in his own right and establish himself as one of the most recognizable promoters in world boxing, White’s comments underscored a persistent narrative within elite sporting circles regarding the legacy built by his father.
White contrasted Hearn’s approach with veteran British promoter Frank Warren, making it clear whose promotional style he favors in the cutthroat boxing business.
"Frank Warren’s the real guy," White continued. "I just saw this interview with him; I was like, ‘Fing love it… all this fing talking and all this f*ing b*****, let’s f***ing fight.’"
The ongoing war of words comes at a critical juncture for the sport, with major doubts swirling around whether the scheduled December 11 bout will actually proceed as planned due to the fierce power struggle surrounding White’s involvement. White’s sudden crossover into the professional boxing sphere has drawn skepticism and criticism from portions of the British boxing public, a sentiment that was palpable during a cagey and contentious press conference where White openly labeled the entire promotional rollout a "s***show" while admitting he had "no idea" if the contest would ultimately take place.
"I don’t know. The guy who is supposed to be helping the fight has been hurting the fight the entire time," White said of the behind-the-scenes friction. "He hasn’t done the fight any favours. I don’t know anybody who is more full of s*** than Eddie Hearn."
When pressed by media members on whether he would voluntarily step aside from the project to clear a path for the fight to move forward smoothly, White deflected responsibility, insisting his presence is tied directly to the structural agreements of the event.
"That’s not up to me. I’m involved in the fing fight," White stated. "If Eddie Hearn really cared about this fing fight—first of all the fight would’ve happened a fing long time ago, one. Number two, he could finance the thing himself. Listen, this whole thing’s a sshow right now. We’ll all know a lot more in the next three, four days, see how this thing plays out."
The animosity between the two camps initially flared up earlier when Conor Benn made the high-profile decision to leave Hearn’s stable at Matchroom Boxing to join forces with Zuffa, signaling White’s aggressive entry into the sweet science.
Whether White will retain any meaningful operational capacity in the Fury-Joshua event remains a central point of contention between the competing promotional factions. Hearn offered a stark counter-assessment of the situation over the weekend, asserting that White’s claims of involvement hold no legal weight under the existing contracts signed by the fighters and event stakeholders.
"At this point, he’s completely cooked," Hearn said regarding White’s status. "What he actually said was, ‘We’re doing the TV production’. Which, again, in the contract, is prohibited. After that video, I spoke to Sela. I said, ‘Have you seen this video?’ They said, in writing, ‘Yes, and it’s completely untrue’."
Hearn maintained that White’s public assertions violate the strict parameters laid out by the financial backers and promoters.
"He cannot do that under the contract," Hearn added. "They want me to meet them in LA next week, which I probably will."
