Oscar De La Hoya Claims He Was Set Up at Garcia-Benn Fight
The escalating rivalry between Dana White and Oscar De La Hoya has taken another turn following the high-profile Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn fight. De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions co-promoted the bout with Zuffa Boxing, explained that he chose not to attend because he believed he was going to be publicly embarrassed.
White has now rejected that characterization, arguing that while his dislike for De La Hoya is well known, he would never deliberately invite an adversary to an event simply to humiliate him. To reinforce his position, White recalled an incident involving Vince McMahon and Ronda Rousey’s first wrestling appearance, when White said he experienced a remarkably similar situation himself.
Dana White Rejects Oscar De La Hoya’s “Set Up” Claim
The dispute stems from De La Hoya’s decision to stay away from the Garcia-Benn event despite his connection to the fight through Golden Boy Promotions.
De La Hoya subsequently said that he did not want to attend an event where he believed the organizers intended to embarrass him. According to his account, the circumstances surrounding the event led him to believe that appearing in Las Vegas would create an uncomfortable and potentially humiliating situation.
The Golden Boy promoter has a long-running feud with White, making the situation particularly sensitive. Zuffa Boxing took the lead in promoting the event, while Golden Boy remained involved as Garcia’s promotional company. De La Hoya therefore viewed the seating, credentials and treatment of his promotional team through the lens of an already bitter relationship with White.
White, however, has strongly disputed the idea that De La Hoya was deliberately being set up.
Speaking after the latest episode of Dana White’s Contender Series, White acknowledged that the animosity between the two promoters is genuine. Nevertheless, he maintained that his approach would have been completely different if he actually wanted De La Hoya to stay away.
White’s argument was straightforward: if he did not want De La Hoya at the event, he would have told him directly rather than allowing him to arrive and then supposedly humiliating him.
Why Oscar De La Hoya Did Not Attend Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn
The Garcia-Benn fight represented a major event for both Golden Boy Promotions and Zuffa Boxing. Ryan Garcia defeated Conor Benn by second-round stoppage, producing one of the biggest victories of his career and retaining his WBC welterweight championship.
Yet De La Hoya’s absence became one of the major stories surrounding the event.
De La Hoya had publicly indicated that he expected to be involved, but ultimately did not attend. He later described his decision as a conscious attempt to avoid a situation in which he believed he would be marginalized or embarrassed.
Reports surrounding the event indicated that De La Hoya had access to the venue but did not receive the type of ringside placement he believed was appropriate for a co-promoter. That distinction is central to the disagreement.
From De La Hoya’s perspective, being treated differently from what he expected could have signaled that Zuffa Boxing intended to minimize Golden Boy’s presence. From White’s perspective, however, the seating arrangement was neither a ban nor a deliberate humiliation.
White has said that De La Hoya knew where he would be seated and that the arrangement was associated with the celebrity VIP section.
That leaves two fundamentally different interpretations of the same situation: De La Hoya saw a potential setup, while White saw a normal event arrangement that De La Hoya misunderstood or disliked.
Dana White Says He Would Have Told De La Hoya Not to Attend
One of the strongest elements of White’s response is his insistence that he would not use an indirect method to embarrass an opponent.
The relationship between White and De La Hoya is hardly friendly. Their disagreements have become increasingly visible as Zuffa Boxing has expanded its role in the professional boxing business. De La Hoya has repeatedly criticized White’s approach to boxing, while White has been equally vocal about his views of De La Hoya and other established boxing promoters.
Despite that history, White says there is a line he would not cross.
His position is that deliberately inviting an enemy to an event only to humiliate that person would be unacceptable. If White genuinely wanted De La Hoya excluded, he says he would simply have communicated that decision beforehand.
This distinction matters because De La Hoya’s central accusation is not merely that he received an undesirable seat. His concern was that the circumstances were deliberately engineered to make him look insignificant at a major event involving one of his company’s fighters.
White’s response directly challenges that interpretation.
Vince McMahon Story Gives Dana White’s Argument a Personal Dimension
White’s most memorable response came when he recalled his own experience with Vince McMahon.
According to White, the incident occurred around Ronda Rousey’s first wrestling match. White traveled to New Orleans expecting to attend the event, only to discover at will call that there were reportedly no tickets available for him.
White said he began making calls and eventually obtained tickets, but he ended up sitting in the bleachers rather than enjoying the access he expected.
For White, the episode demonstrated what it feels like to arrive at a major event and discover that the treatment does not match the relationship or status one believes they have.
That experience is why White says he would not do something similar to De La Hoya.
The irony is obvious. White is now involved in a dispute in which another prominent promoter claims he was treated in precisely the type of manner White says he personally experienced. Yet White’s conclusion is that his own experience taught him not to replicate that behavior.
The Garcia-Benn Fight Became Bigger Than the Bout Itself
The controversy illustrates how promotional politics can sometimes become almost as significant as the sporting event.
Garcia vs. Benn was already a major fight because of the profiles of the two boxers and the growing influence of Zuffa Boxing. But the absence of De La Hoya added another layer of intrigue.
Golden Boy Promotions and Zuffa Boxing were technically partners in the event, yet White and De La Hoya remain prominent rivals within the broader boxing industry.
That creates an unusual dynamic.
A co-promotional event requires both sides to coordinate credentials, seating, media access, fighter obligations, hospitality and presentation. When the principals already have a contentious relationship, relatively ordinary logistical decisions can become highly symbolic.
For De La Hoya, the question was not simply where he would sit. It was what that seating arrangement represented.
For White, the issue was equally straightforward: De La Hoya had tickets, knew where he was expected to sit and was not banned from the building.
Those competing interpretations have kept the controversy alive well after Garcia’s victory.
Ryan Garcia Was Also Disappointed by De La Hoya’s Absence
The dispute became even more complicated because Garcia himself reportedly wanted De La Hoya to attend.
Garcia was disappointed that his longtime promoter did not appear for such an important fight. The event was a major moment in Garcia’s career, and De La Hoya’s presence would have provided an important connection between the fighter and the company that has represented him.
That disappointment adds another dimension to the story.
Whatever happened behind the scenes between De La Hoya and Zuffa Boxing, Garcia’s perspective was primarily that his promoter should have been there to support him.
The situation therefore involved three different interests: White’s Zuffa Boxing operation, De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Garcia’s desire to have his promoter present for a major championship fight.
A Larger Battle for Influence in Boxing
The White-De La Hoya dispute also reflects a much larger transformation taking place in professional boxing.
Dana White’s entry into boxing through Zuffa Boxing has introduced a promoter with extensive experience building the UFC into a global combat-sports brand. De La Hoya, meanwhile, represents the traditional boxing promotional establishment through Golden Boy.
Their rivalry is therefore not simply personal.
It also reflects competing philosophies about how major boxing events should be organized, promoted and presented.
White’s involvement has increased the pressure on established promoters, while the participation of Saudi-backed boxing initiatives and influential figures such as Turki Alalshikh has further changed the promotional landscape.
The Garcia-Benn event was consequently a useful example of how complicated modern boxing partnerships can become when multiple major promotional organizations have interests in the same fighters and events.
Why the Vince McMahon Comparison Matters
White’s reference to Vince McMahon is particularly significant because it transforms his response from a simple denial into a statement about his personal standards.
White is effectively saying that he knows what it feels like to be treated as though his presence is unwanted, and he would not intentionally subject De La Hoya to the same experience.
That does not resolve whether De La Hoya’s concerns were reasonable. It does, however, clarify White’s position.
He is not claiming that De La Hoya imagined the circumstances surrounding the event. Instead, White argues that De La Hoya interpreted those circumstances as intentional disrespect when White says that was never the objective.
That distinction is likely to remain at the center of the rivalry.
Dana White and Oscar De La Hoya Feud Shows No Sign of Ending
The Garcia-Benn controversy is unlikely to end the long-running tension between the two promoters.
De La Hoya believes the circumstances surrounding the event justified his decision to stay away. White insists that he would never deliberately create such a situation, even for someone he openly considers an adversary.
Both positions fit naturally within the broader history between the two men.
What remains particularly notable is that the disagreement emerged from a fight that was supposed to demonstrate cooperation between competing promotional organizations. Instead, the event became another stage for the ongoing rivalry between Dana White and Oscar De La Hoya.
For now, White’s message is unmistakable: he denies setting De La Hoya up, rejects the accusation of deliberate humiliation and points to his own experience with Vince McMahon as evidence that he would not treat an enemy that way.
Meanwhile, De La Hoya remains convinced that staying away from the Garcia-Benn fight was the correct decision.
The disagreement ultimately comes down to a question of intent. The available accounts agree that De La Hoya was absent, that the event involved both Golden Boy Promotions and Zuffa Boxing, and that questions arose over his access and seating. What remains disputed is whether those circumstances represented deliberate disrespect or simply a disagreement over how a major co-promotional event should be handled.
As Zuffa Boxing continues to establish itself in professional boxing, disputes of this kind are likely to attract substantial attention. And as long as White and De La Hoya remain on opposite sides of the promotional divide, the Garcia-Benn controversy is unlikely to be the final chapter in their rivalry.
