Eddie Hearn has finally responded to a $10M offer to fight Dana White in a boxing match. Both marquee promoters have turned into direct rivals after the UFC CEO entered the boxing market with Saudi-backed Zuffa. But nobody imagined their feud would evolve into a real possibility of a boxing match. Now, with serious investment pouring in to make it happen, Hearn has addressed a pretty lucrative offer.

In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySport’s Andrew Whitelaw, the British promoter revealed that Misfits boxing offered him and Dana White $10M each, and he would want the promotion to up the money if they want to see them fight. 

“I like it. I would actually like to go and do a training camp,” Hearn told EssentiallySports. “The problem would come in the actual fight when I have to walk down and get into the ring. But I think that’s the beauty of it. He’s pretty useless as well, I would imagine. I have seen him spar. He’s probably not as useless as me. I have got a little bit of size advantage. A little bit of youth. But Misfits have offered us 10 million each so far.

“It’s a nice start. But you gotta take that up significantly. I mean we do massive numbers, I’d do it. You know. I’m not ready to give you the entertainment of me getting knocked out. But I’m ready for the challenge.”

Dana White’s rivalry with Eddie Hearn turned fierce, especially after Zuffa signed Conor Benn to an enormous $15M-per-fight deal. For those unaware, Benn had been part of Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing for years, and that move created a massive rift between him and White. In response, the British promoter signed UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall to his management team. Though it seemed their feud would stay in the realm of promotion, White’s proposal of a boxing match has now changed the landscape.

On popular British journalist Piers Morgan’s show, the UFC boss addressed his beef with Eddie Hearn and called out the English promoter for a boxing match. Without much thought, Hearn accepted the challenge. Since then, their potential clash has started attracting astronomical offers. At the UFC 327 press conference, White revealed that Turki Alalshikh had offered big money for the promoters to fight, though he didn’t disclose the number. Later, Hearn mentioned on Ariel Helwani’s show that he was offered $30M each, bringing the total purse to $60M.

After that offer, Misfits Boxing, which has become a hub for the influencer boxing market, stepped in with another deal. Misfits co-president Mams Taylor told IFL TV they had offered White and Hearn a total purse of $20M to fight under their promotion. With a $60M offer already on the table, Hearn suggested he would need more and urged them to increase it.

Now, amid both promoters receiving increasingly lucrative offers, a former UFC fighter has completely lambasted the idea of Dana White vs Eddie Hearn in a boxing match.

Darren Till sounds off on Dana White challenging Eddie Hearn for a boxing match

Though the entire combat sports world is fascinated by Dana White and Eddie Hearn’s possible boxing clash, Darren Till has a completely different point of view. He has already questioned the UFC head honcho’s current way of running the promotion, blaming its alleged decline on his “ego.” Now, he has also taken shots at White for pursuing a boxing fight with a rival promoter, something he believes should be left to fighters, not promoters.

“It’s like, as a fighter, sometimes you’d have the fighter’s friend talking s— to ya,” Till said on the Ariel Helwani show. “But you can’t fight, why are you talking? You’ll get your jaw snapped. The fighters should be fighting. It’s like the managers when they’re arguing, have you seen the state of half of these managers? They all just look like potatoes, and they’re all arguing like they’re about that life.

You just do your jobs and sign contracts, you f—ing morons. Let the fighters fight. It pisses me off. Then Eddie and Dana are talking about this ‘biggest fight.’ You’re about 50, it’s not a big fight. For starters, you just can’t fight, and for two, what do you mean ‘This big fight?’ You’re just a pair of numpty, egotistical c—s. It winds me up.”

Till has recently signed with BKFC and is set to compete at the promotion’s Manchester show. But with his latest comments on Dana White, it seems he has no plans to return to the UFC anytime soon.

That said, is he actually right to suggest the promoters’ fight is more of a gimmick despite the heavy investment and growing fan interest?