After calling him out over the proposed Ali Revival Act, Eddie Hearn suggested Dana White could face a potential “revolt” from MMA fighters over payout issues as he rolled out the first Zuffa Boxing event under the new Paramount deal. Yet despite those criticisms, he felt a meeting with White could be worthwhile. That surprising turn seemingly left White confused and perplexed.

Why, after all those scathing jabs, would Eddie Hearn want to see him? Dana White wondered. Yet, putting his personal emotions aside like a true professional, he agreed, albeit half-heartedly, to a catch-up. The English promoter is currently in the United States. Two of his Matchroom Boxing events – Raymond Muratalla vs. Andy Cruz, followed by the marquee Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson – had just concluded. They coincided with Zuffa Boxing events, the first of which appeared at the UFC Apex last week. So the idea of a meetup may have surfaced.

Dana White blindsided by Eddie Hearn’s invite but agrees to meet

But White isn’t too enthused by the prospect of meeting someone who has so publicly criticized him over the months. At the post-fight press conference of Zuffa Boxing 02, a reporter referenced Hearn’s recent interview with Ariel Helwani. The Matchroom head had spoken about messaging White.

“I’m just curious about that. Did that catch you off by surprise given the interviews he’s been doing the last few months?” the reporter asked. Dana White acknowledged the news was true. But at the same time, he felt it was weird. When the reporter probed further about details – whether they managed to speak and what it was all about – White replied that the meeting set up on Sunday couldn’t take place.

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So the reporter inquired if he was still open to a catch-up with Hearn. This time White replied, “Yeah, I’ll meet up with him. But I agree with what you said. Guy’s been doing all these nutty interviews, and then he wanted to get together and talk about I don’t know what.”

Turning to Hearn’s side of the story, he had told Helwani that he had messaged White to ask if they could meet on February 1. When Helwani asked what prompted him to make such a move, Hearn replied that it was for no particular reason. There were exciting times for boxing, and every time he was in Las Vegas, he felt like reaching out to White and speaking.

Interestingly, it seems even Hearn was surprised by receiving the okay from White.

What made Eddie Hearn seek a meeting with Dana White?

He explained, “I mean, sometimes if you focus too much on clickbait and things that are said, then you might just go mean, you know, and and that’s happened a lot in boxing. But maybe part of it was a little bit of an experiment for me to see if he’d want to be. But Dana is, as I’ve always said to you, you know, and people like him don’t like him. He’s always been very good to me, and he’s always been very cordial.”

However, things have changed given that they are two competitors in the same field. Yet Hearn explained that even though they disagree or have tension, that doesn’t mean they must be enemies or keep attacking each other publicly.

Coming off days-old criticism where Hearn felt that, given the payout White and his team have supposedly set for boxers who have joined the Zuffa promotion, the move could cause some ruffled feathers, and many fans would therefore find the latest development surprising.

Later, speaking about Zuffa Boxing 01, he commented, “To the naked eye, it probably lacked ambition… I think if you want to come out of the gates hot, you want to do a big event with a big crowd and make big noise.”

So having said all that, why would he still want to see Dana White? The answer probably lies in what Hearn’s father recently said when he spoke about Matchroom’s relations with Jake Paul. The elder Hearn had stated, “I don’t like him, but I don’t have to like him to manage him because it’s business,” so that hints at what Hearn, especially in the current environment surrounding boxing, could be trying to do.