Oscar De La Hoya claims rift with Dana White being result of expressing interest in getting into MMA: "He just wanted to bury me"
Oscar De La Hoya recently opened up about the origin of his rift with Dana White and claimed that it was a result of his interest in getting into MMA as a promoter. The boxing legend-turned-promoter has been successful with his Golden Boy Promotions and attempted to replicate that in MMA.
The beef between the UFC CEO and former boxing champion is well documented as they have been at odds for years. De La Hoya's interest in promoting MMA events saw him book the trilogy between rivals and former UFC light heavyweight champions Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz for his first event. The bout was heavily criticized by many including White, who expressed his displeasure due to 'The Iceman' being well past his prime.
During his appearance on Club Shay Shay, the boxing legend sounded off on the UFC CEO for bringing up his past transgressions to take jibes at him. De La Hoya mentioned that he and White were once close friends and claimed that their relationship changed because of the UFC CEO wanting to have a monopoly on the sport. He said:
"When I first thought about getting into the MMA, yeah, I strongly feel that he just wanted to bury me, not have competition. You know, he started talking sh*t about me...It's absurd because literally I don't even think about it. We're in different sports. He does his thing, I do my thing. Just because I wanted to start a little competition, he gets all [worked up], you know, 'let me scream louder'."
Check out Oscar De La Hoya's comments below:
Oscar De La Hoya takes jibe at Dana White's incident with his wife
As he recalled Dana White doing to him in the past, Oscar De La Hoya did the same as he took a jibe at the incident involving the UFC CEO and his wife.
The incident saw White slap his wife, which was also caught on video and went viral after circulating on social media. During the aforementioned appearance, De La Hoya used the incident to take a jibe at the UFC CEO when discussing their rift. He said:
"When a guy slaps his wife in public, you know, when his mom writes a book about him saying that he's a dou*he. [White's] own mom! That's all I have to say. I don't have to say anything more [about White]. I don't know why [the rift] started...We were actually pretty cool but anyway, it's all good."
Check out Oscar De La Hoya's full interview below: