Oscar De La Hoya knows which side he’s on in the Dana White vs. Eddie Hearn feud.
Ever since White announced his plans to enter boxing promotion, the UFC CEO has made it clear he has no problems ruffling a few feathers of the establishment, including Hearn. White struck a significant blow when he signed Matchroom Boxing star Connor Benn out from under Hearn, an affront that Hearn took personally and may have motivated him to sign UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall to his management company.
The tensions have escalated to the point that White and Hearn have both said they’d be open to fighting each other in the boxing ring, an idea that amuses De La Hoya, a world champion in boxing multiple times over.
“You know what’s hilarious is I can knock out Eddie Hearn in one punch,” De La Hoya told Fight Hub TV. “Eddie Hearn would probably beat Dana White! That’s the funny part. I’m for Eddie Hearn.”
De La Hoya isn’t just favoring Hearn in a physical contest, he’s also in agreement with his fellow boxing promoter from a philosophical standpoint.
Asked about Ronda Rousey’s recent comments that the UFC has become “one of the worst places to go” for a combat sports athlete, De La Hoya praised Rousey for shining light on the situation.
“I totally understand that,” De La Hoya said. “Look, it’s all about the bottom number, the bottom line for them across the street, so I totally understand what she’s saying. She’s totally right. She made the clapback in a positive way, because Ronda, thank you for those kind words that everybody loved hearing from a legend like yourself.
“Fighters are trying to understand that when you have such a global company and presence who’s making tons and tons of money not for the fighters but for the bottom line and for the executives, there’s something wrong there.”
The UFC recently signed a $7.7 billion broadcasting deal with Paramount, which has made the wage gap between its fighters and other major sports more pronounced. White also signed Benn to a reported $15 million for one fight, a deal that has directly or indirectly caused stars including Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, and Sean O’Malley to air their grievances with the promotion they’ve helped build into a global giant.
De La Hoya encourages more UFC fighters to speak their mind.
“Every fighter in the UFC is finally starting to realize they deserve more,“ De La Hoya said. ”Good for Jon. I’m glad he’s speaking up, I’m glad he’s in the right. Wish him all the best, he’s a great fighter. … They want to suppress other fighters. They don’t want any fighter to be bigger than the UFC and that’s why the UFC’s tanking down. That’s why they’re involved in boxing now because they want to start a new entity to help their bottom line. That’s it.“
Mailbag. Jed Meshew ponders how to save UFC White House, the future of Netflix MMA, and more.
Starboy. Kevin Vallejos destroyed Josh Emmett in the UFC Vegas 114 main event to establish himself as one of the top prospects in all of MMA.
Sour. Chris Curtis didn’t appreciate being dominated by Myktybek Orolbai’s grappling.
Intriguing. Dricus du Plessis likes how Sean Strickland matches up with Khamzat Chimaev.
Blooper. Ever see a fighter dance his way right out of the cage?
Ouch. Harry Hardwick’s jaw is in a bad way after UFC Vegas 114 Fight of the Night battle.
Paid. Eddie Hearn is optimistic about Tom Aspinall’s future earnings from endorsements alone.
UFC Vegas 114- post-fight show.
UFC Vegas 114 post-fight press conference.
Stop letting Tom Aspinall do this!
On To the Next One. The Best Friends Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee pick the next opponent for featherweight star Kevin Vallejos, determine whether Gillian Robertson has done enough for a crack at the UFC strawweight title, plus more matchmaking after UFC Vegas 114.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
No slow roll for this kid.
Happy trails, Eryk Anders.
Tai Tuivasa (14-9) vs. Sean Sharaf (4-2); UFC Perth, May 2
Steve Erceg (13-4) vs. Tim Elliott (21-13-1); UFC Perth, May 2
Cam Rowston (14-3) vs. Robert Bryczek (18-6); UFC Perth, May 2
Junior Tafa (6-5) vs. Kevin Christian (9-3); UFC Perth, May 2
Jacob Malkoun (9-3) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (37-21); UFC Perth, May 2
MMA is supposed to be fun… and UFC Vegas 114 was!
Huge tip of the cap to the fighters and matchmakers. It really couldn’t have been booked better, with young stars stepping up and half of the competitors on the card looking like they weren’t leaving the Apex without a $100K bonus. Kevin Vallejos continued his incredible rise up the featherweight ladder, Gillian Robertson took a crucial step towards a future title shot, Marwan Rahiki and Harry Hardwick stole the show, and we even had an entertaining heavyweight scrap with Vitor Petrino and Steven Asplund.
Go back and check this one out if you missed it.
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