If Ryan Garcia is actually serious about challenging Sean O’Malley to an MMA fight, Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya wouldn’t mind a piece of the action as well.
“I like [O’Malley]. He’s a good striker,” De La Hoya said Monday on The MMA Hour.
“It’ll be a hell of a promotion, right? … I would actually entertain that, because Ryan can fight the main event with this kid, and maybe I can do Dana [White] on the co-main.”
For De La Hoya, 51, and White, 54, this is not the first time. Far from it.
The two promoters have publicly feuded for years. Over that time, White has thrown a barrage of verbal grenades in De La Hoya’s direction, and the former champion boxer has repeatedly responded in kind by challenging White to a fight. De La Hoya appeared to finally bury the hatchet with White in 2022, however White said that while he felt De La Hoya’s apology was “sincere,” there was no way the UFC CEO and Golden Boy headman could ever be friends again because of the damage inflicted upon their relationship.
More than a year later, De La Hoya said he still isn’t quite sure where he and White stand, but that doesn’t change his offer to knuckle up for a cross-promotional showdown.
“I don’t know if we’re cool. I mean, I don’t even talk to the guy,” De La Hoya said.
“I’m good [with him]. I’m good, I’m good. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t go at it.”
Garcia, 25, is currently slated to face two-weight world champion Devin Haney on April 20 in Brooklyn, but has teased a fight with O’Malley since the UFC star first rose to prominence. Rather than forcing O’Malley to cross over to boxing, however, Garcia boldly declared his desire to face the UFC bantamweight champion in MMA. Garcia said Monday on The MMA Hour that he would “destroy” O’Malley in a UFC fight with “three or four months of just MMA training,” and called upon White to answer his texts and make the bout happen.
As Garcia’s promoter, De La Hoya is more than willing to make it work if Garcia is actually serious about facing O’Malley after his high-profile showdown with Haney.
“I would be open to it,” De La Hoya said. “Again, I’m doing what’s right for Ryan. I’m doing what’s right for his career. See, because if you if you asked me this five years ago, I would have said, ‘No, there’s no way in hell. I mean, come on, what is it going to do for his career?’ Fighting this kid [O’Malley] would obviously put money in his pocket, would elevate his status worldwide, globally — and that’s what a fighter wants, right? They want to make a lot of money, they want to become popular, they want to become the man.
“So yeah, I would be open to it.”