Oscar De La Hoya isn’t done with promoting mixed martial arts.
Last month, Golden Boy Promotions made its MMA debut. Headlining the card was a bout between two Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Famers with a well-known rivalry. Ortiz finally got on the board against Liddell, scoring a first-round knockout victory. “The Iceman” hadn’t fought since June 2010.
Oscar De La Hoya Isn’t Done With MMA
Reports surfaced claiming that the event couldn’t even crack 50,000 buys and was as low as 25-30k. De La Hoya spoke to TSN to dismiss the reports and said he’ll continue to promote MMA as long as UFC president Dana White is “not paying his fighters” (via Bloody Elbow):
“I mean look, first of all the LA Times is wrong. And second of all, they didn’t count our digital buys, which far exceeded the linear buys that we did. So, those reports are false. If Dana White wants to criticize the fact that I put a show together for Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. It’s because they wanted to get paid. They wanted to make money. If Dana White is going to keep criticizing me, then pay your fighters so they won’t have to be fighting when they’re 49-years-old. It’s as easy as that. And so, as long as Dana White’s not paying his fighters, I’m going to continue promoting MMA.”
Do you think Oscar De La Hoya can succeed in MMA promotion over the long haul, or is he in for a rude awakening?
