Eddie Hearn Ready to Pay ‘Double’ to Book Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones
Eddie Hearn has escalated his public campaign on UFC fighter pay by claiming he would have staged a Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones superfight and paid both men double what the UFC put on the table, if they were not tied to exclusive contracts. The Matchroom boss and new advisor to Aspinall framed the UFC heavyweight champion’s current deal as part of a larger pay issue that the promotion “has to” confront.
Eddie Hearn Blasts Tom Aspinall’s UFC Contract, Claims He’d Outbid Promotion for Jon Jones Fight
Hearn’s comments came in an interview with Pro Boxing Fans, where he was asked about Aspinall’s situation and the long-discussed but never signed fight between the Englishman and Jones. He argued that if both men were free agents, he would happily promote Aspinall vs. Jones himself and “pay them double what the UFC offered.” Hearn did not reveal exact figures in the clip, but recent chatter in combat sports media has suggested Jones’ side was looking for around 15–30 million dollars for a clash with Aspinall, with outside partners in Saudi Arabia showing interest at one stage before talks stalled.
Aspinall is the reigning UFC heavyweight champion and recently signed with Hearn’s new Matchroom Talent Agency, making him the inaugural client in the boxing promoter’s move into MMA management. That partnership has quickly turned into a platform for heavy criticism of the UFC’s economic model, particularly around what headliners receive compared with the overall revenue generated by their events. Hearn has repeatedly said he “cannot believe” what Aspinall is earning under his current terms when he considers the money a title fight with Alex Pereira or a rematch with Ciryl Gane could generate.
Hearn used a hypothetical heavyweight title defence against Pereira as an example and laid out his frustration in simple financial terms. He argued that if a card built around Aspinall produced a pot of 100 million dollars, paying the champion one million would be unacceptable, and he urged greater revenue sharing for athletes at the top of the bill. For Hearn, those numbers underpin his willingness to outbid the UFC on a crossover-style promotion if contractual barriers were not in the way.
The Jones side of the equation has its own history. During Jones’ run as UFC heavyweight champion, talk of a unification bout with Aspinall never progressed beyond public back-and-forth and fan speculation. A persistent storyline around those stalled negotiations has been that the UFC did not meet Jones’ financial expectations, leading to a stalemate even as outside investors, including Saudi backers, were said to have explored the matchup. Jones has since maintained his own schedule and priorities, and there has been no official sign that he or the UFC intend to revisit the Aspinall fight in the short term.
For now, Aspinall vs. Jones remains a fantasy booking, blocked by exclusive UFC deals and competing agendas. But Hearn’s willingness to publicly declare that he would pay both men double UFC money, combined with his new role as Aspinall’s representative, is adding fresh pressure to long-running conversations about how much value the promotion shares with the fighters who headline its biggest cards.
