Tom Aspinall has put his relationship with the UFC at further risk by signing a cope with Eddie Hearn.
The UFC heavyweight world champion last fought within the Octagon this past October when he looked to defend his title against Ciryl Gane.
After the fight ended unceremoniously because of persistent eye-pokes from Gane, the Brit has been out of motion nursing several injuries which required quite a few surgeries.
During that point, Tom Aspinall‘s relationship with Dana White has taken a large hit, and the 32-year-old even claimed that he ‘hates the fight business’ because of its fragility.
Tom Aspinall desired to add to his value by signing with Hearn
This Thursday afternoon, the combat sports world was hit with the shock news that Aspinall has signed a cope with Eddie Hearn.
The cope with the Matchroom Talent Agency will see Hearn and his team cope with Aspinall on a business and advisory basis.
“We’ve done most of my profession with the really small team that I’ve got, so I desired to add to my value,” Aspinall said in a video on his YouTube channel.
This may even mean that Hearn deals with the UFC heavyweight champion’s contract negotiations within the premier MMA promotion.
In fact, this might cause an enormous issue, as Hearn and White have a particularly toxic feud ongoing, which was heightened when White signed Conor Benn to Zuffa Boxing.
Up up to now, Aspinall hasn’t had any skilled representation in terms of management, and he has all the time negotiated with the UFC personally, alongside his father.
“Eddie is someone I’ve known for a good bit, I trust Eddie, and I wanna make as much money and grow commercially as much as possible while I’m fighting.
“Obviously we’re still recovering, but I’m trying to get back in there as soon as possible so I just wanna maximize the time I’ve got in the game, grow more commercially and expand my team a little bit bit and make it as big and powerful as possible,” he continued.
Is that this a very good idea for Aspinall’s profession within the UFC?
It’s fair to say that this cope with Hearn couldn’t have come at a worse time for Aspinall, as it would likely anger his UFC boss.
And if history has told us anything, it’s that White doesn’t like when fighters try and explore their price.
White’s relationship with former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, fell apart for much less, and with Hearn and White continuing to butt heads, this might prove detrimental for Aspinall’s profession within the promotion.