Dana White to Oscar De La Hoya: ‘You wanna battle? I’m your guy’

UFC President Dana White and boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya do not like each other, and have not liked each other for a very long time. Yet when De La Hoya promoted a rematch between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell — a fight White did not approve of at all — their relationship curdled even further.

Speaking at the UFC 232 post-fight press conference, Dana White explained where his disdain for Oscar De La Hoya really began.

”It started with him telling people not to watch [Floyd] Mayweather vs. [Conor] McGregor,” White said (transcript via MMA Mania). “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 s**t and a liar.”

The long-time boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya has recently promised to shake up the MMA world with his burgeoning MMA promotion Golden Boy MMA. From the sounds of it, Dana White welcomes the challenge — or perhaps more accurately relishes the opportunity to drive De La Hoya out of the market.

”See what we do this year,” he said. “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.”

While Dana White is more than willing to “battle” Oscar De La Hoya in the business world, De La Hoya recently shared his interest in meeting the UFC boss in the ring.

“Let’s get in the ring,” Oscar De La Hoya said on a recent episode of the Luke Thomas show. “Let’s get in the ring, three rounds. Let’s do this. Let’s do this under Canelo [Alvarez], Cinco de Mayo. I’ll even give you five months so you can get off the juice, and then we can get in great shape and then we go three rounds. Look, I’m going to give you what, a 50 pound advantage? It’s ok. I can take you on. Let’s do it.”

“Oh wait he’s never laced up a glove in his life,” De La Hoya added. “I’m sorry, I forgot about that.”

What do you make of the ever-growing beef between Oscar De La Hoya and Dana White?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 1/1/2019.