Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn has a proposal for Dana White to get Tom Aspinall out of his UFC contract.
Aspinall is the reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion, but there has been some friction with the promotion he’s called home since 2020. Aspinall was none too pleased with how White responded to his eye injury that put an early halt to his UFC 321 bout against Ciryl Gane.
The heavyweight titleholder has now signed a talent agency deal with Matchroom, and Hearn has taken the UFC brass to task over Aspinall’s pay. During an interview with iFL TV, the popular boxing promoter made a suggestion to get Aspinall out of his UFC contract.
“I think that I’ve got an idea,” Hearn said. “I would like Dana White to release Tom Aspinall from his UFC contract, and I will guarantee Dana White in writing, that I will pay Tom Aspinall a minimum, probably five times more, but a minimum of three times more what Dana White is paying him. I think for a hard-working, working class man that deserves every penny he can get because of what he puts his body through, and we’ve seen that recently, that Dana White should be happy for Tom Aspinall to receive that deal.”
Hearn knows how much Aspinall has been paid for his prizefights under the UFC banner up to this point, and he is baffled by how low the numbers are.
“I’ll be honest with you, I’m looking at this kid Tom Aspinall, I’m looking what combat sports athletes are making around the world, and it’s absolutely disgusting what they’re paying him and things need to change,” Hearn said.
UFC has set up an interim heavyweight title fight that is scheduled to take place on the Freedom 250 card. Former UFC light heavyweight and middleweight titleholder Alex Pereira will collide with Gane on June 14. The winner would seemingly be set up for an undisputed title fight with Aspinall, but it could boil down to whether or not issues between the Salford native and the UFC brass can be resolved soon.
What do you make of Eddie Hearn’s proposal to get Tom Aspinall out of his UFC contract? Sound off in the comments below.
