Dana White erupts on ‘cokehead junkie’ Oscar de la Hoya over fighter pay

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President, Dana White, already knew that a third fight between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz would be a bona fide disaster, which is why he refused to entertain the idea after it first came to light back in early 2017.

Former boxer-turned-mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter, Oscar de la Hoya, did not share the same outlook on the future of “The Iceman.” In fact, when starting Golden Boy MMA, De La Hoya insisted it would correct the mistakes UFC made with its fighters.

Starting with a little more money and a lot more respect.

On the surface, it doesn’t appear he accomplished either goal. Several combatants were paid outrageously low purses for their participation in last weekend’s event in California, while others were so far down the totem pole, De La Hoya couldn't even name them.

“Oscar fucking De La Hoya says, ‘Oh, come over to Golden Boy where we respect the fighters and it makes me sick what these fighters were paid’ and all this shit,” White told the UFC Unfiltered podcast (via MMA Fighting). “Out of 14 fights on the card, five bouts were amateur fights. Which means he didn’t pay them jack shit, right? What the fuck are you talking about you cokehead junkie? Some of the guys on the card made $1,000 and $1,000. And he respects the fighters so much, he couldn’t remember their fucking names at the press conference.”

UFC pay has been a touchy subject for White and Co. over the last few years, to the point where fighters brought the matter before the courts. In addition, the promotion has come under fire for the way it disrespects its champions.

That sent a handful of combatants to the competition. Not just for Scott Coker and Bellator MMA (sample here and here), but also to ONE Championship in Singapore, which has emerged as a new player in the fight game (leading to this).

No telling if Golden Boy MMA will make its return to cage fighting now that Liddell has been knocked out (watch the replay here), but if and when it does, rest assured White will have something to say about it.