“I’ve never seen a UFC weaker,” Hearn told Pro Boxing Fans. “I’ve never seen it more to a breaking point. I’ve never seen fighters actually try to almost start a revolution and a fighters’ union.”
He tied that shift directly to boxing’s financial model, arguing that the comparison has become inevitable as cross-talk and shared platforms increase visibility.
“What TKO entering the boxing space did to them just highlights the problem of the UFC business, and it did it very, very quickly,” Hearn said.
The comments reflect a growing theme in recent months, where fighter pay in mixed martial arts has been more openly questioned, particularly when big purses in boxing are discussed alongside UFC contracts.
Hearn also suggested that the move to boxing could strain the UFC’s existing structure, especially if resources are split across multiple businesses.
“They’re not going to make money out of boxing for a long time, and they’re putting their business at risk,” he said. “This is going to affect their numbers, their share price and everything going forward.”
While Hearn has been openly critical of new entrants to boxing, his focus here has been less on competition and more on what he sees as internal pressure building within the UFC itself.
He pointed to fighters publicly expressing frustration and the idea of collective action gaining attention, something rarely discussed in the sport in the past.
“I’m really happy that it’s being highlighted,” Hearn said.
The situation remains in flux, but the comparison between boxing purses and UFC pay structures is now being discussed more directly than before, especially as both industries begin to overlap more frequently.
There’s a real chance this will continue to come up every time boxing and UFC cross paths, because once fighters start looking at the numbers side-by-side, it becomes harder to ignore.
