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Legendary pugilist Oscar De La Hoya seems happy to squash his beef with Dana White, but that doesn’t mean he’ll ever see eye-to-eye with the UFC CEO when it comes to MMA fighters crossing over into the world of boxing.

White played a key role in the cross-promotional clash between Irish megastar Conor McGregor and Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather in 2017. Since then, he has stayed steered clear of booking any more crossover bouts, even opting to let former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou walk away from the promotion rather than help him test out his skills inside the squared circle.

That allowed Ngannou to find a new home with the Professional Fighters League, a promotion that immediately allowed ‘The Predator’ to branch out by accepting a fight with WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury last year. Ngannou ultimately lost the bout via split decision, but after going toe-to-toe with ‘The Gypsy King’ for 10 rounds, fans were eager to see him back in the boxing ring sooner rather than later.

On Wednesday, The MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani announced that Ngannou will return to Riyadh in 2024 for a showdown with former unified heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua.

After ending his own iconic career more than 15 years ago, Oscar De La Hoya has still been a big name in the sport, promoting fights under his Golden Boy Promotions banner. And while he has often been at odds with fellow fight promoter Dana White, De La Hoya seems content to bury the hatchet so long as the UFC CEO stays in his lane.

“I have no beef with him whatsoever,” De La Hoya told MMA Mania’s Alex Behunin on Friday. “He’s in the MMA world, I’m in boxing. Now if he’s going to come into boxing that’s a whole different story. Then you’re coming into my world. Then we’ll hopefully sit down and talk, but in the meantime, I have nothing to say about him. I literally have nothing to say about him.”

De La Hoya Calls BS on Dana White’s claim that Fighters Aren’t Making More Money in Boxing

Perhaps the biggest obstacle in De La Hoya and White’s relationship today is their vastly different views on crossover fights.

“The only thing I have to say about that is I think I heard Dana White say something about, ‘These MMA fighters are not making more money in boxing.’ All I can say or do is laugh,” he added. “Like are you kidding me? Why do you think MMA fighters are going into boxing and crossing over for the payday?

“That’s the bottom line. And to test their skill, which is admirable because a MMA fighter going into a ring with an elite fighter not only takes balls but you have to believe in yourself and your skill. And that’s admirable. When Dana White’s saying they’re not making more money it’s bullsh*t. They’re making tons of money inside of the ring in boxing. That’s the bottom line. That’s why you’re seeing Joshua with Ngannou. These guys are warriors.

“When Dana White’s saying they’re not making more money it’s bullsh*t. They’re making tons of money inside of the ring in boxing. That’s the bottom line. That’s why you’re seeing Joshua with Ngannou. These guys are warriors.”

Though Francis Ngannou’s fight purse for his scrap with Tyson Fury has not been disclosed, reports indicate that he earned upwards of $ 10 million. Recently, Ngannou’s longtime coach Eric Nicksick revealed that the payout he received was the biggest of his career. “When I saw my Wells Fargo account that morning, it literally brought me to tears,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “That’s a true story; Literally brought me to tears because he changed my life.”

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UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

UFC CEO Dana White’s personal policy, at least in 2017, was not to reveal a fighter’s pay unless they had misrepresented it in public.

When Randy Couture in 2007 revealed his earnings amid a dispute over his retirement, White claimed the UFC Hall of Famer “completely lied” and went to the UFC’s accounting department to get the real number so he could counter publicly.

Behind the scenes was a different story. He didn’t want certain numbers to make the rounds, and while he couldn’t remember any specific instances, he said the promotion had “probably” worked to keep salary information under wraps, according to a 2017 deposition for the UFC antitrust lawsuit, recently unsealed by federal judge Richard Boulware.

That didn’t necessarily keep paydays private with the fighters.

“All the fighters know what other fighters are making,” White said. “They all talk. They all know. Even guys who say they don’t want their number out there, they tell.”

Occasionally, that led to flareups among talent. One example at the top of White’s mind was a professional wrestler who’d signed with the UFC without any professional fights.

Four weeks out from Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor, and admittedly hopped up on an energy drink — “I’m getting crazy over here,” White declared after a brief spat with the plaintiff’s attorney — he struggled to remember the name.

“It just happened recently again, too,” White said in the deposition. “We had some guy that was — that was paid a certain amount of money and never — oh, the professional wrestler that we brought in. Not Brock [Lesnar], the other one.”

“CM Punk?” the attorney asked.

“Oh, yeah,” White replied. “People went crazy when they saw what he got paid. … Even the women.”

According to a copy of his contract unsealed in the lawsuit, Punk, the former WWE champ whose real name is Phil Brooks, jumped straight toward the top of the UFC’s declared pay scale. His payout: a flat $ 500,000; any money owed him through a separate letter of agreement; and for his first fight and “if and only if” he defended a UFC title, a tiered pay-per-view bonus that kicked in at 200,000 buys. (For top stars and champions, the UFC often pays a flat “show” purse and allows them to share in pay-per-view profits. They also often draft “side letters” that guarantee additional pay that is not disclosed to athletic commissions.)

The promotion has, in fact, worked publicly and privately to keep salary information out of the public eye. In 2014, it lobbied the Florida legislature to limit disclosures required by promoters, which include fighter purses.

Individuals linked to the promotion have also pushed hard to keep financial information secret, with Nevada Athletic Commission Commissioner Stacy Alonso — a former exec in the Station Casino gambling empire owned in part by former UFC Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta — arguing in favor of a rule passed in 2020 that made most information routed through the NAC private. Several state athletic commissions, including Utah and Arizona, have recently changed their disclosure laws, citing similar language about concerns raised by fighters over their pay becoming public.

The group of UFC vets suing the promotion for antitrust violations have made fighter pay — and the UFC’s public and private communication about it — a central part of its case, arguing the promotion conspired to lower fighter pay as part of a scheme to monopolize the market for elite MMA fighters. Attorneys from the UFC fought to keep the contracts and communications in the case private before judge Boulware unsealed them this past month.

Behind the scenes, former matchmaker Joe Silva and current matchmaker Sean Shelby have also worked with UFC execs to manage perceptions about what fighters were being paid. In texts and emails unsealed in the antitrust case, they paid close attention not only to compensation, but perception about that compensation among fighters.

“Good for us actual money-wise, but tough perception-wise in that people think we gave him what he wanted and now others will demand same,” Silva wrote in a text message about an unnamed fighter, believed to be Gilbert Melendez after he re-signed with the UFC, in 2014.

While pitching Spencer Fisher as an addition to bolster the now-defunct WEC’s lightweight division, Shelby noted the UFC vet was paid $ 26,000 to show and $ 26,000 to win in the UFC, but he indicated he wanted to keep that out of view for his new deal.

“To make this a possibility I would need to get him for five more fights going up by [$ 2,000 per fight], but also I need to keep the public perception of his pay at about $ 10k less on the show side,” Shelby wrote to UFC execs. “How can we make this work?”

The antitrust suit could go to trial in April. The UFC faces damages of over $ 1 billion if the fighters can convince a jury that the promotion broke the law in its meteoric rise.

Fighters’ outrage over Punk’s payday was in abundant supply after his octagon debut, proving right White’s concern over the extra drama it would produce.

“CM Punk made $ 500k on his entry fight while the rest of us pay to fight?” tweeted then-UFC bantamweight Cat Zingano. “Y’all should be ashamed UFC.”

“Nothing against CM Punk make half million for his MMA debut,” tweeted ex-lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos. “But I think champs should be [making] that too, people who dedicated [an] entire life.”

According to an expert report released in the antitrust lawsuit, even that half-million figure was likely an underreporting of Punk’s true take-home. The pro wrestler actually took home $ 1,042,736 for his loss to Gall, the likely result of his pay-per-view bonus and other sweeteners.

One thing is beyond dispute: Punk’s drawing power helped push the UFC 203 to greater success. The reported buyrate for the event was 450,000, generating $ 26,995,500. Punk’s pay represented about 4 percent of those earnings.

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Dricus du Plessis is unmoved by Sean Strickland’s comments since their press conference showdown.

The two middleweights have caused quite the commotion ahead of their Jan. 20 meeting at UFC 297 for Strickland’s UFC middleweight title. Du Plessis and Strickland nearly came to blows in their first face-to-face when the South African contender invoked Strickland’s childhood trauma and promised, “You think your dad beat the s*** out of you? Your dad doesn’t have s*** on me … every childhood memory you have is going to come back when I’m in there with you.” One day later, tensions rose even further when Strickland vaulted over a row of seats at the T-Mobile Arena to attack du Plessis in a chaotic scene at UFC 296.

Strickland ultimately addressed the situation in an emotional interview on This Past Weekend with Theo Von. The UFC champ tearfully recounted the horrific abuse he suffered as a child and condemned du Plessis for comments he felt should’ve been “off limits.”

Du Plessis responded Friday in an interview with MMA On Point.

“I didn’t watch [Strickland’s comments] and I don’t think I will,” du Plessis said. “Watching a grown man cry in an interview, it’s not really my watch material that I go and watch. But it is it is what it is. I’m glad he cried and he got it out. I hope that’s the end of that.

“I think we give him a lot more credit than he deserves in terms of mindset. I don’t think he thinks about anything. I think he goes out there and he fights, he fights the way Sean Strickland fights. He always has and he’s an incredible fighter. I have a lot of respect for him as a fighter. I think he’s incredible. Do I think he’s a hypocrite? One-hundred percent. One-hundred percent. Obviously childhood trauma is something you can’t help, but if you know what it feels like to be the one on the receiving end of such trauma, don’t inflict it on others, because that’s exactly what he does. So yes, I feel bad for him and I don’t think any kid deserves that, ever.”

Strickland, 32, has been open regarding the alleged abuse he suffered as a child. He said he often feared that his father would murder his mother and recounted an incident in which he called the police after his father allegedly attacked his mother as Strickland hid under the bed in the same room. In recalling his past trauma with Von, a tearful Strickland had to pause several times to gather himself before continuing with the interview.

The UFC middleweight champion has not been shy to go below the belt in attacking other fighters in the past, however, so du Plessis indicated that he has no remorse for giving Strickland what he believes to be a taste of the American’s own medicine.

“If you go after other people, eventually they’re going to come after you,” du Plessis said. “And I think he’s used to being the bully and he’s not used to being bullied. But I don’t have to hammer on that. I already won that fight, I won that press conference. I don’t want to keep on hammering on the same thing. Yes, he cried on Theo Von’s podcast. I guess it was terrible, and like I said, no kid deserves that. No kid deserves to go through that. But if you want to dish it out, you better take it. And like I said, I have mad respect for him as a fighter, even as a person. He’s always been a straight-up guy. Even the fact that he tried to fight me in the crowd, that was him being a man.

“What I’m saying is, if you want to dish it out, be able to take it, man, or you’re just a hypocrite. You didn’t deserve that as a kid, but as a grown man, you dish it out, you’re going to get it. That is the way the world works, unfortunately. And like I said, with this mindset going to this fight, I think he’s going to come out and fight the way Sean Strickland fights. My mindset, I don’t care about him. I care about me, what I do, what I go out there to do, and that is become the world champion.

“Whether he’s angry, whether he’s not, does he have motivation — I see everybody talking about Sean Strickland having muscle now,” du Plessis continued. “Well, welcome to being a professional. I’ve had it my whole career. Nice, you have abs for the first time, I’m really happy for you. But that’s what you should look like as a professional athlete. Good job. I’m really happy that I can motivate you get some abs. But it doesn’t bother me. Good luck with those abs, I’ve been fighting with mine for years.”

Du Plessis’ remarks at the kickoff press conference infamously came just one day after Colby Covington drew the ire of Leon Edwards by insulting his deceased father ahead of UFC 296. Many have since linked the two situations and questioned where the line should be in pre-fight trash talk, however du Plessis does not believe the comparison is fair.

“I don’t agree with what Colby did. Talking about somebody’s dead family, that is 100 percent stepping over a line, 100 percent,” du Plessis said.

“It’s not something to be taken lightly, and definitely not something to be joked about. Now when I said what I said about Sean Strickland, I didn’t joke about it. I spoke the truth, because he’s been very outspoken about it. He spoke about it. He was making jokes about it. I was never joking about it. I just stated facts. I never joked about it, not once.”

UFC 297 takes place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Strickland and du Plessus meet in a five-round championship showdown in the main event.

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Response
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Francis Ngannou has once again shaken up the world of combat sports and the fighting community is taking immediate notice.

On Friday, news broke that Ngannou will meet heavyweight boxing sensation Anthony Joshua this coming March in Saudi Arabia. This comes just a few months after Ngannou made his professional boxing debut against Tyson Fury. The former UFC heavyweight king ended up losing to “Gypsy King” via split decision, but his performance was incredible and he left the arena a winner despite actually losing.

Now that Ngannou has locked down his second crossover boxing match since parting ways with UFC back in early 2023, the combat community is once again lining up to pay “Predator” some respect. Ngannou is going to have his hands full with a physically-gifted fighter like Joshua, but he just banked another massive payday against another big boxing superstar.

After learning of the Ngannou vs. Joshua fight news, social media went absolutely crazy. It’s truly an unprecedented journey that Ngannou is on and people tend to gravitate towards that. Check out some of the reaction below and let us know your thoughts of Ngannou’s return to the squared circle:

Stick with Mania for more Ngannou vs. Joshua fight news.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Henry Cejudo is tired of seeing fighters air their dirty laundry and personal struggles to the public.

Things have begun to heat up, particularly in the middleweight division where the ever-outspoken Sean Strickland currently sits atop the throne. Last month, Strickland and his UFC 297 challenger, Dricus Du Plessis, got into a heated exchange during the promotion’s seasonal press conference after ‘Stillknocks’ had commented on the champ’s history of growing up in an abusive home.

Cejudo, a former two-division UFC world champion, doesn’t see any benefit to putting these issues out in the open. Particularly in the case of Strickland who has spent plenty of time launching personal attacks on other fighters before being targeted for his own publicized vulnerabilities.

“I wouldn’t share things that bug you if you can’t be an advocate for it,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “Especially to the world. But, you’re talking about peoples’ wives and calling people f*cks, and things of that nature. How do you not expect somebody else to come at you?”

Before getting into a physical altercation with Du Plessis at UFC 296, Sean Strickland launched a campaign against rising welterweight contender Ian Macho Garry and his wife, Layla Anna-Lee, calling her a “succubus” and “predator” after it was revealed that the 40-year-old TV personality had written a book on how to date young athletes and celebrities. Anna-Lee is 14 years younger than Garry.

While Cejudo suggested that making things personal could add a level of motivation for someone like Strickland come fight night, ‘Triple C’ ultimately believes that fighters, including Alexander Volkanovski, should save their traumatic experiences and personal battles for a more private setting.

“I hope you can come to the consensus to be able to accept the fact that you’re in this game, bro,” Cejudo said. “Learn how to play, don’t be [mocks crying]. You can’t, man.

“It’s the same with Volkanovski,” he continued. “Volkanovski is showing his cards that he goes through anxiety if he doesn’t fight. Like, bro, like what the f*ck. Keep some of that sh*t to yourself. The world doesn’t need to know” (h/t MMA Mania).

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