UFC head honcho Dana White is set to deliver on a plan to enter the sport of boxing and Oscar De La Hoya has some stark words of advice.
The 55-year-old president of the MMA organisation has played an important part in making that sport as popular as it is today, and there has long been talk of when he might switch the octagon for the ring.
At a recent press conference, White said he was finally ready to dive in.
“There will be some big announcements soon. Let me tell you, if you know anything about me and look at anything I ever said, I never say anything that I don’t do, ever. I’ve never said anything like that and we’ve been kicking the whole boxing thing around for a long time, but you’ve never heard me commit and say ‘I’m in’. Well, I’m in.”
Speaking further on the matter, White said that ‘now was the time’ for him to make his move and mentioned Turki Alalshikh, who he has recently worked with on UFC event.
“I think, obviously, now is the time, or I would’ve done it [before]. I was kicking around. I was even talking about Anthony Joshua at one time and stuff like that. I’m glad I pumped the brakes and we waited. Everything is about timing. Is now the time? We’re going to find out.
“There’s a million reasons why now is (the time),” White continued. “If you notice as far as boxing, even as much money as Sheikh Turki is throwing into this thing, television deals aren’t really abundant right now. There are just a lot of things I think I can do that other people haven’t done yet.”
Despite not being active in boxing, White has had a long feud with Hall of Fame fighter-turned-promoter De La Hoya, who has dabbled in MMA promotion.
De La Hoya spoke briefly to KO Artist Sports about White’s announcement and, unsurprisingly, didn’t welcome him with open arms.
“Come on, Dana. Stay in your lane. You know, when I tried MMA – and it was successful with Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz – it was great. And then he f***ing [said] ‘oh Oscar can’t come into my [sport].’ Okay, well I just tried it one time and I stayed in boxing. Dana, stay in your f***ing lane.”
White may be involved in the rumoured Saudi-backed league format which has been said to employ more UFC-style matchmaking. De La Hoya is working with Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season on an upcoming ‘Latino Night’ show headlined by a cruiserweight unification between Gilberto Ramirez and Chris Billam-Smith.
