Eddie Hearn has publicly called Tom Aspinall’s UFC contract “a f***ing disgrace” after getting his first look at the heavyweight champion’s earnings, two weeks after signing the Salford-born fighter as the inaugural client of his new Matchroom Talent Agency.
Speaking to the media in a press scrum on Friday, as filmed by Pro Boxing Fans, Hearn did not hold back. “I represent the UFC world heavyweight champion,” he said. “I’m gonna bite my tongue a little bit for now, but what I will tell you is: his contract is a f***ing disgrace. I cannot believe the money that he is on when you look at the commercial revenue that his fight would generate against a Pereira or against a Gane in a rematch.”
Hearn went further, suggesting Aspinall’s earnings barely justify the physical cost of competing. “Honestly, if I’m Tom Aspinall, I’m looking at that contract, I go: ‘I don’t even think you should fing bother, mate,'” he said. “But he wants to come back. He wants to rematch Gane. He wants to fight Pereira. He wants to defend his world heavyweight title. By the time you’ve paid your tax and paid your team, there’s no fing point in even fighting, especially when you’ve had four operations after your eye has got gouged out.”
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He also described his personal reaction to reviewing the figures. “When I talked through Tom Aspinall’s purses, I nearly fell off the f***ing chair,” Hearn said. “Because I know if that was our business, he’d be making 10 times as much money.”
Reports suggest Aspinall earned an estimated $3,542,000 across his UFC 321 payday, with Ciryl Gane receiving approximately $1,522,000. At face value, those numbers are not small, but Hearn’s argument is that the undisputed heavyweight champion, headlining major pay-per-view events, should command significantly more. The contrast becomes sharper when you consider the reported £15 million single-fight deal Conor Benn received to join Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing, which has become a recurring benchmark in the ongoing fighter pay debate. Hearn also drew a direct line between Aspinall’s value and the UFC’s reliance on him. “Forget he needs the UFC,” he said. “He actually don’t need the UFC now.”
Aspinall has been out of action since October 2025, when his first undisputed title defense against Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi ended in an anticlimactic no-contest. Gane poked the champion in both eyes multiple times during the opening round, forcing referee Jason Herzog to wave off the fight at 4:35 of Round 1 after Aspinall could not continue.
The aftermath proved far more serious than a standard foul stoppage. Aspinall was diagnosed with bilateral traumatic Brown’s Syndrome, a condition affecting the superior oblique tendon, and spent months attempting to let the injuries heal naturally before doctors confirmed surgery was unavoidable. He underwent a double eye operation in early February 2026. At the time, Aspinall described the process to Paddy Pimblett’s YouTube channel as “a nightmare,” citing symptoms that included double vision, dizziness, a persistent black spot in his vision, and pain from something as basic as looking at a phone screen.
Now five months on, the 32-year-old has returned to light training but has no confirmed fight date. His intentions, though, are clear. “Obviously, the plan is to go back and beat the living daylights out of Ciryl Gane,” Aspinall said via One-on-One MMA. “That’s the plan. But right now, the short-term plan is to get back where I should be, get back in the gym.”
With Aspinall sidelined indefinitely, the UFC has pressed ahead by booking Gane against former two-division champion Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC Freedom 250 at the White House on June 14, 2026. Aspinall is expected to face the winner on his return.
The Matchroom Talent Agency deal was announced on March 5, with a formal press conference held the following day at London’s Battersea Power Station. Hearn’s team will handle commercial, brand, publishing, broadcast, digital, and legal matters. Aspinall’s father Andy, remains his manager, a role he has held throughout his son’s career. In Aspinall’s own words, the move was about leverage.
“I needed a more powerful voice in my corner to grow commercially inside and outside the Octagon,” Aspinall said at the press conference. “I hope other MMA fighters look at this and see the money I’m going to make, to be a trailblazer for them.”
The frustration with fighter pay was not new for Aspinall. In a February 2026 interview with Uncrowned, he spoke candidly about his feelings on the MMA business. “I love martial arts, I absolutely love it. I’ll never stop loving it, but I just hate the business,” he said. “Fighters are just completely replaceable and the business will make you feel like that any chance it gets. Even if you get hit with an illegal move, which could affect the rest of your life, they don’t really give a s***, and no one else does, either.”
Hearn’s entry into Aspinall’s corner adds another layer to his already fractious relationship with Dana White. The two have been trading public barbs since White launched Zuffa Boxing in early 2026, a new promotion backed by Saudi investor Turki Alalshikh and co-owned by TKO. The rivalry turned sharper when Conor Benn, who had been promoted by Matchroom throughout his professional career, left to sign with Zuffa Boxing for the reported eight-figure deal. White openly mocked Hearn’s reaction. Hearn called the situation a betrayal.
Aspinall’s signing can be read as Hearn’s most significant counter-move in that ongoing battle. When the deal was announced, White kept his public response measured, telling reporters at the UFC 326 press conference, “We don’t have any issues with Eddie. They can get whoever they want to represent them.” Hearn has not matched that tone. “We’re very different from Dana White and those guys,” he said at the time of the signing. “They don’t give a f*** about the fighters.”
With Aspinall’s contract now on the table and a major return fight looming, the pay conversation is unlikely to go quiet anytime soon. He became the undisputed heavyweight champion after Jon Jones‘ retirement in mid-2025, with his reign yet to see a completed title defense.
