Dana White Calls Out Oscar De La Hoya Over Chuck Liddell Fight
Out of respect for his friend and former light heavyweight champion, Dana White won’t put down Chuck Liddell over his reported comeback fight against Tito Ortiz.
Instead, White will go after the promoter behind the bout, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy.
When White was asked about Liddell’s interest in the third fight against Ortiz, he was honest in his reasoning while speaking on the topic during the UFC Liverpool post-fight press conference (via MMA Mania), having been the person to coax Liddell into retirement back in 2010 after three consecutive knockout losses:
“I hope he’s coming out of retirement to be partners with De La Hoya and not to fight. I hope he doesn’t fight. Oscar De La Arum is not that bright, but I don’t know what he’s thinking. The last thing I want to do is shit on Chuck Liddell, because I love him, but I asked him to retire 10 years ago for a reason.”
Liddell ended his MMA career on an unfortunate downward spiral while Ortiz made the move to Bellator and won several high-profile fights before retiring himself after choking out Chael Sonnen.
De La Hoya had expressed interest right away in a trilogy match between the two UFC legends and hall-of-famers while fight fans and now White have criticized the idea, as “The Iceman” hasn’t fought in eight years and both men are well past their primes.
Do you agree with Dana White’s opinion on De La Hoya’s promotion of Liddell vs. Ortiz III?
