Dana White dismissed Eddie Hearn’s push to have Tom Aspinall released from his UFC contract, mocking the request and comparing it to asking the UFC to release bantamweight champion Bam Rodriguez.
White was asked about Hearn’s comments for the first time Saturday at the Zuffa Boxing 07 post-fight press conference.
He said he wanted Aspinall released right? You release Bam Rodriguez, then. Sounds pretty stupid, doesn’t it? Congratulations, Eddie. You sound stupid again. Eddie, who apparently Conor Benn was his best friend, he’s been crying — literally crying for weeks, ‘Oh, he was my best friend.’ He didn’t even want to pay him, but he wants to pay my guy. He could’ve paid his best friend and they could’ve remained best friends. Eddie’s full of a lot of sh*t. You know it. I know it. We all know it.
White said the UFC will not force Aspinall to fight but equally has no intention of releasing or renegotiating his deal, suggesting the situation will be addressed after the UFC Freedom 250 interim heavyweight title fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane on June 14.
Let’s see who wins. Let’s see how the fight plays out at the White House. If Eddie’s not going to let his fighter fight, what are you going to do? You can’t make anybody fight. You can’t force anybody to fight. You have to want to fight, so we’ll see how it plays out.
Hearn had claimed this week that Aspinall is extremely unhappy with his situation and would not unify belts with the Pereira-Gane winner under the terms of his current contract, while promising to find paydays tripling his UFC payout if released.
