Dana White and Oscar De La Hoya have been taking shots at one another for years.
On White’s side, he’s thrown out plenty of cocaine accusations, prayed for Vitor Belfort to violently end De La Hoya’s comeback, and refused to let Georges St. Pierre box opposite “Golden Boy.” De La Hoya, meanwhile, has thrown out a few insults of his own, and particularly drew White’s ire when he criticized the pay structure in MMA.
That’s what made it fairly surprising when extended an olive branch back in June, offering to help White with his forays into boxing promotion. During his Fan Q&A with GQ Sports, White was asked about his feelings towards De La Hoya and their current relationship. White revealed that the two are now “cool,” but don’t expect them to work together anytime soon.
“I feel like De La Hoya’s apology was sincere, but there’s no way that he and I can ever be friends again,” White said (via MMAFighting). “He and I were actually friends. I used to go to his fights. I used to watch his fights. I used to promote his fights. That guy did way too much damage for us to ever be friends again. I appreciate his apology. I get it. We’re cool, but we’re never going to be that cool.”
Admittedly, it may not be his relationship with De La Hoya preventing him from working with “Golden Boy.” Rather, White is trying to wash his hands of boxing promotion altogether, as it remains a complicated struggle for White and Endeavor to break into that realm.
“Every time I start to go down the road to get involved in boxing, I go, ‘Have I lost my f—king mind? Am I crazy? Why would I ever want to get involved in this corrupt, insane, f—ked up sport?’” White said. “And then I jump out for a while and then I start to think about it again. Literally just started thinking about it a month ago, got on the phone with a couple boxing guys, hung up the phone and said, ‘Have I lost my f—king mind again? Why would I want to be in business with any of these guys?’”
In the same interview, White revealed himself to be more focused on keeping fighter pay at its current level, rather than letting it become a nightmare like in boxing.