Eddie Hearn has said that Tom Aspinall does not intend to swap the UFC Octagon for the boxing ring.
Aspinall, the UFC's heavyweight champion, counts Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn as part of his management team in a deal that was agreed during his ongoing absence due to eye injuries -- and, notably, amid a war of words between Hearn and Dana White, the UFC CEO who now heads Zuffa Boxing too.
With Aspinall still on the fringes, the interim heavyweight title will be contested between his ex-opponent Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira on Sunday night when the UFC stages its White House event.
Hearn has advised Aspinall not to fight in the UFC under the terms of his current contract but has also insisted that he won't become boxing's next crossover entrant, after Francis Ngannou and Rico Verhoeven.
"We're not looking to bust out of the UFC," Hearn told ESPN.
"People keep thinking that 'oh, Eddie Hearn wants to bring him into boxing.' Tom's not interested in boxing. Now maybe in the future, I don't know. But he's got absolutely no plans to have a boxing fight."
The UFC's deal with Paramount+ means their traditional pay-per-view model has ended. UFC has negotiated high-profile deals with under-contract fighters this year, sources told ESPN.
Hearn insisted that Aspinall "wants to fight," and that facing the winner of Pereira vs. Gane "is one of the biggest fights that can be made in the UFC."
He added that, in terms of Aspinall's contract, "we don't want to be greedy, we just want to be respected." He labelled Aspinall's current deal "horrific."
The boxing promoter added about his work with the UFC champion: "We've done a number of big commercial deals for him where he is making a lot of money outside the Octagon, so that's been very successful. But also he came in to allow me and ask me to review his contract and give him advice within the fight space."
Aspinall won the interim heavyweight title three years ago by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich, then defended it against Curtis Blaydes. A dream fight against Jon Jones never materialised, but Aspinall was promoted to undisputed champion when Jones stepped away from competition.
However, he suffered eye injuries due to accidental pokes by Gane last year, which brought his comeback from more than a year out to a premature end. He left with his belt intact due to the no-contest after being unable to continue fighting. Aspinall has undergone surgeries on his eyes.
"I'm obviously going to fight the winner, the UFC have told me that I'm going to fight the winner," Aspinall said of Sunday night's clash between Gane and Pereira.
Information from ESPN's Andreas Hale and Brett Okamoto contributed to this report.