Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn says Dana White is being “mad” by pressing ahead with UFC 249 on April 18.
The UFC President has been determined to hold events despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent global travel bans. He has been forced to postponed shows in London, Columbus, and Portland but insists UFC 249 will go ahead and he is now making plans to do weekly fights.
Hearn confesses he is usually the type of person to try press on at all costs but right now he has no interest in doing that, speaking to Express Sport he said.
“It’s unbelievable, I’d like to think that in boxing, there’s no-one more roll your sleeves up and get on with it than me. But even I wouldn’t consider staging an event right now. I’m not even thinking about options, not even on the radar.
“This is stubbornness,” Hearn added. These are many of the things that make him successful but at some point you have to sit back and say ‘white flag’. I’m quite surprised ESPN are going ahead with this, obviously they want ratings and money. But with Sky Sports and DAZN, I would not be allowed to stage events right now. It’s bad taste to be quite honest.”
“He wants to be a trailblazer, people have told him he can’t do it,” Hearn said. “But I know the feeling of being told something and you do it anyway. Half of me admires him for cracking on but the other half says ‘come on don’t be mad’.
“I was on the phone with Bob Arum yesterday with [Kubrat] Pulev’s team too and Arum’s like ‘I like you guys but why are we wasting our time on this call? Let’s speak at the end of the month and we’ll know more’,” Hearn added. “It hasn’t really affected our business too much. Financially we’re okay, other than some initial costs which we couldn’t get back.
“We’ve built up a decent business over the last eight years, we’re in a strong position with good liquidity.”
Is Eddie Hearn right to criticize Dana White for pressing ahead with events?