Oscar De La Hoya breaks down new strategy for Golden Boy MMA

Late last month, long-time boxing promotor Oscar De La Hoya promoted his first-ever MMA event under the Golden Boy MMA banner. The card was headlined by a light heavyweight battle between UFC Hall of Famers Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, which the former won by first-round knockout.

While this card was not the financial home run that Oscar De La Hoya and Tito Ortiz seemed to be expect it to be, De La Hoya says he plans to promote more MMA cards in the future. That being said, he plans to change his strategy.

Going forward, he intends to work with fighters who are younger than Liddell and Ortiz. He also plans to deviate from the pay-per-view model. His star boxer, Canelo Alvarez, he reminds, recently signed a $365 million deal with the streaming service DAZN.

“In MMA, I’m gonna sit down with my team,” Oscar De La Hoya said on ESPN’s First Take (transcript via Sherdog). “I’m gonna analyze the free agents out there, because I’m not gonna get a hold of no fighters who are under contract with the UFC. I want to see who’s a free agent, who contacts me. And then I’ll build another event, but I’ll build a big event. I’ll build an event where the fighters are not Chuck Liddell’s and Tito Ortiz’s age, but I’ll build an amazing event. And not do it on pay-per-view. I’ll do it on a platform that is not gonna charge you $80, $90. Pay-per-view’s gone. That’s why Canelo Alvarez is gonna make $365 million not fighting on pay-per-view.”

Whatever the case, Oscar De La Hoya assures that Golden Boy MMA will soon be competing with the UFC and its President Dana White as one of the biggest promotions in the MMA industry.

“I’m gonna compete with Dana White,” he said. “Just the way I started Golden Boy promotions, and now we’re the biggest powerhouse in boxing. That’s exactly what I’m going to do with MMA.”

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 12/12/2018.