UFC CEO Dana White has an antagonistic relationship with boxing promoters Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum. White has been vocal about the problems he sees in boxing, particularly the influence of certain promoters. He will get more involved in 2025 but did reveal a list of potential partnerships. The omission of certain names remains noteworthy, and White may have taken a shot at De La Hoya and Arum.
Recently, the UFC boss revealed the likes of Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, and Tom Loeffler as potential partners. White has spoken in high regard about Hearn, Warren, and Loeffler. However, he did omit the names of Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum. Despite never addressing the names, White felt that people could connect the dots to understand who he wouldn’t work with.
Yeah, I would probably be working with a lot of people. I’m sure you can assume the people I would not be working with. You don’t have to be a fu*king genius to figure that one out.
Dana White via DWCS Post-Fight Presser
Oscar De La Hoya and Dana White have feuded since the tragic Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz trilogy bout. The beef is so heated that White refused to give tickets to De La Hoya for the iconic UFC 306 at the Sphere. The boxing legend got the ticket from elsewhere and bizarrely refused to credit the UFC boss for his vision for the Sphere event.
Their back-and-forth exchanges have become a notorious part of combat sports media. Despite these rivalries, White appears determined to build partnerships with other key players. Turki Alalshikh has done a wonderful job in the last year with Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn. Adding the UFC CEO to the partnership could take boxing to a whole new level. However, White and Arum will never work together.
Arum, the longtime head of Top Rank Boxing, has been critical of the UFC’s business model. Arum and White’s public disagreements have often centered around fighter pay, event promotion, and the future of combat sports. White’s recent comments suggest that Zuffa Boxing will take a different approach than what Arum or De La Hoya have established in the sport.
Dana White slams Bob Arum’s way of boxing promotion. (via Imago/X)The UFC boss does not appreciate what Arum has done for the sport of boxing. At one point, he criticized how Bob Arum promoted undefeated boxing champion Terence Crawford. Crawford and Arum didn’t have a good working relationship and caught a stray from Dana White. The UFC boss also mocked the veteran promoter for a lack of vision as well.
He has fu*king nothing. He’s created nothing. Always just fu*king stripping money out and never invested back into the fu*king sport. You had no fu*king vision for the sport. You had nothing. You’re not as smart as you think you are, Bob Arum.
Dana White via Oscar Willis from TheMacLife
Bob Arum has spent at least four decades in boxing. Yet, the sport of boxing struggled. Top boxers never fought each other and the UFC boss felt the model hurt the sport. Meanwhile, UFC always pits the best against the best. Only now, under the guidance of Turki Alalshikh, boxing has pitted the best against the best. As such, White feels Arum has no legacy or did anything innovative with the sport of boxing.
