Event organizer Eddie Hirn vocalizes his discontent towards UFC and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) broadly.
Score One for Boxing!
Eddie Hearn, a major player in the boxing world, recently chatted with Ariel Helwani and shared his candid thoughts on mixed martial arts and the UFC. Here's the scoop: boxing is burning up the digital and social media scene like none other, surpassing MMA and the UFC in a massive way.
Hearn explains, "Boxing is on fire right now. It's leading the pack on social media and in the digital world, and it's doing it in a league of its own compared to MMA and UFC." He continues, admitting that the UFC is strong, but he's just feeling a bit jaded towards their product: "MMA is the poor cousin to boxing, but it's not really their fault. It's just that everyone's a bit over MMA, don't you think? It's all about the product - the fights. If you asked me to name six superstars of UFC right now, I'd struggle."
Hearn alsoaddressed UFC's structure, noting that their management team doesn't exactly love it when individual fighters become more popular than the brand itself. To put it simply, "The problem with UFC is that they always want their brand - their brand - to be bigger than any fighter. When a star like Conor McGregor comes along, everything changes."
Speaking of McGregor, Hearn used his peak as an example of how the UFC sometimes struggles with a fighter stealing the spotlight from the brand. According to Hearn, the UFC seemed uneasy with a guy like McGregor eclipsing the organization's fame, highlighting a potential issue with the UFC's management model.
Dana White recently announced the creation of his own boxing league, supported by Saudi Arabian advisor Turki Al Al-Sheikh. But don't worry - Hearn isn't sweating it.
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ena examination of Hearn's comments reveals that he believes boxing stands out by allowing its fighters to build strong personal identities and narratives, unlike the UFC, where the brand often overshadows the fighters. He insists that boxing is unstoppable in the digital and social media world, while MMA and the UFC are seen as a "poor relative" to boxing[1][2][4].
Hearn criticizes the UFC for prioritizing its brand over individual fighters. He argues that the UFC's strategy often hinders the potential for fighters to become superstars, save for a few exceptional cases like Conor McGregor. Hearn claims that even when a fighter like McGregor experiences immense popularity, the UFC often feels uncomfortable with a fighter overshadowing the brand's visibility[4][5].
Conor McGregor demonstrates the UFC's alleged discomfort with a fighter outshining the brand's fame, according to Hearn. McGregor's peak in the UFC presented a situation where an individual's fame rivaled the organization's, which Hearn believes the UFC found challenging[4]. This underscores Hearn's view that the UFC's management style inherently limits the growth of its fighters' fame compared to the brand itself[4][5].
Boxing promoters, such as Eddie Hearn, are concerned that the UFC is struggling to compete with boxing in terms of social media presence and digital popularity. In his conversation with Ariel Helwani, Hearn admitted that MMA is strong, but feels overshadowed by the immense media attention given to boxing. UFC's management team reportedly prefers their brand to be more prominent than individual fighters, creating a potential hindrance for fighters to become superstars, a situation Hearn highlighted using Conor McGregor as an example. Despite Dana White launching a new boxing league, boxing promoters like Hearn remain confident in boxing's dominance and its ability to stand out by allowing fighters to build strong personal identities and narratives.
