NEW YORK – Naturally, Dana White is not willing to thank Oscar De La Hoya for putting the Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev boxing fight on hold.
In a rare occurrence, the Alvarez vs. Kovalev WBO light heavyweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas this past Saturday was put on hold until the main event fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz was over at UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
White, who already had said he was not worried about the boxing match going head-to-head with UFC 244, admitted he was surprised he was contacted about having the “BMF” title fight aired for the fans in attendance at MGM Grand Garden Arena to watch.
But White said that decision had nothing to do with De La Hoya.
“He didn’t do any of that,” White said at the UFC 244 post-fight news conference. “You think that idiot did that? He did none of that. It was much smarter people that surround him that started to do that stuff. It wasn’t that moron. He’s an (expletive). I mean how much more can I prove myself, that this guy is an (expletive) and a complete just (expletive) up?
“I (expletive) hate Oscar De La Hoya. This guy is a scumbag and he’s a snake and I told him not to go on this night,” White added. “He did what he wanted to do and here we are. I respect Canelo, and I respect all the other fighters, and the guys who participate in the sport of boxing, and we got it worked out yesterday to where fans could see both fights.”
It was a surreal moment for the UFC president, who may not have never imagined a UFC event could hold such weight that a title fight featuring one of the biggest boxing superstars in Alvarez would be held on standby for the UFC to wrap up.
“So we’re sitting there and MGM called and said, ‘You guys are halfway through your co-main event right now. We can’t – people are losing their minds here … Can we show the Diaz fight at the MGM?’ And I was just like, ‘Holy (expletive), this is crazy,’” White said. “This is getting crazy by the minute. If I woke up and dreamed all of this, I wouldn’t believe that it could happen. But it was nuts. Of course we said yes, and they did, and – wow.”
Dana White: 'Really (expletive) weird' Oscar De La Hoya had nothing to do with MGM airing UFC 244
