Dana White and Oscar De La Hoya have a rivalry that dates back many years, with White, especially, showing extreme amounts of vitriol toward the Hall of Fame boxer-turned-promoter. That's why it came as something of a surprise that De La Hoya announced he would be attending UFC 306 at Las Vegas' Sphere rather than Canelo Alvarez's boxing match with Edgar Berlanga that same night in the same city.
De La Hoya announced his intentions late last week, calling the UFC's trip to the Sphere an event everyone would be watching instead of "another lame Canelo fight."
White was asked about De La Hoya's decision by Grind City Media's John Morgan and suggested that De La Hoya may be attending as a guest of Turki Alalshikh, Saudi Arabia's chairman of the general entertainment authority and whose Riyadh Season project is sponsoring UFC 306.
"I don't know where he's getting his tickets from, but he definitely isn't getting them from me," White said. "I don't know if he's coming with [Alalshikh] or what his deal is, but yeah, I saw it."
White went on to suggest that De La Hoya's decision to attend UFC 306 was actually driven more by the former boxer's longstanding rivalry with Alvarez than any real interest in the UFC event. White then went on to praise Alvarez and mention that UFC 306, which is to be a celebration of Mexican fighting history, will include Alvarez as a "big part of the night."
"It's him trying to shit on Canelo, and I said it a million times, I respect Canelo," White said. "I like Canelo. Met him, he's a nice guy. I'm saying that that night, we're talking about the history of Mexico and the history of the people and their traditions and the impact that they've had on combat sports. Somebody said to me, 'So you'll be celebrating Canelo that night?' Yes, we are. Canelo is a big part, he's a big part of the night. Julio Cesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez, how are you going to do all the baddest dudes that have ever come out of Mexico and not talk about Canelo too?"
De La Hoya and Alvarez had a promotional relationship for nearly 10 years before a contentious split in 2020. That year, Alvarez filed a lawsuit against De La Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions and broadcast partner DAZN alleging breach of contract.
Tensions had been escalating prior to the split and things have only gotten worse between the pair in the years since the lawsuit was resolved with Alvarez being allowed to sever ties with Golden Boy Promotions.