Oscar De La Hoya has been at odds with the UFC’s Dana White for quite some time now. So much so, in fact, that he even decided to venture into the business of promoting mixed martial arts (MMA). This past November, Golden Boy Promotions held their first-ever MMA event in California. It was headlined by a trilogy bout between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell. Ortiz won via first-round knockout, a fight that never should’ve happened given Liddell’s capabilities, or lack thereof.
The fight did very poor in regards to pay-per-view (PPV) numbers, selling around 25-30,000 buys. Dana White recently had some words for De La Hoya at the post-UFC 232 press conference (via MMA Mania):
”It started with him telling people not to watch Mayweather vs. McGregor,” White said. “Who does that? Then he came out and basically lied about what guys had been paid, what we were paying fighters, what Chuck Liddell made, what Tito [Ortiz] made. He’s a liar. And I called him out for being a piece of sh-t and a liar.
”See what we do this year. Wait til you see what happens with Oscar De La Hoya in the next three years. You guys know me, some of you have known me for a long time. You wanna battle? I’m your guy. I’m your guy. Let’s do it.”
De La Hoya responded by ripping Jon Jones’ $500,000 payday for UFC 232. He then said that the PPV model is dead:
“500k For Jones, Really?! @danawhite and you say you wanna battle. Wait till the fans realize that PPV is dead.”
500k For Jones, Really?! @danawhite and you say you wanna battle. Wait till the fans realize that PPV is dead.
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) December 30, 2018
Responding to a fan, De La Hoya then oddly suggested that the reason PPV is dead is because of his own MMA event:
And that’s why it’s dead you dumb ass! https://t.co/lRWpOKJv1N
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) December 31, 2018
The reason De La Hoya is likely bashing PPV is due to the recent deal his top fighter, Canelo Alvarez, signed with the DAZN streaming service. After his deal with HBO wrapped up, Canelo signed a record-breaking deal with DAZN for the rights to air his fights.
What do you think about De La Hoya’s comments?
