Dana White Fires Back At Oscar De La Hoya, Eddie Hearn After Zuffa Boxing 03

Dana White does not believe he's just acclimated to the boxing world; he feels he is already dominating it.

The UFC CEO faced significant backlash when he initially announced his plan to make a second attempt in boxing, which he believes has been a resounding success after just three events. A confident White claims he is "beating up" rival promoters, specifically, Eddie Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya, whom he called "babies."

"There hasn't been any push-back," White said at the Zuffa Boxing 3 post-fight presser. "This is like beating up babies. I feel like I came in and I'm beating up babies. I expected more. I expected some push-back; I expected them to be more game. They're all way out of their league. Absolutely, positively out of their league."

Dana White on coming into the boxing world:

“I feel l came in and I’m beating up babies. I expected more. I expected them to be more game. They’re all way out of their league.” 👀😳

(via @ufc) pic.twitter.com/6WKPpAL2PS
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 16, 2026

White furthered the condemnation of his two biggest rivals in boxing as the press conference progressed. He particularly honed in on De La Hoya, whom he called "mentally ill."

While being more critical of De La Hoya, White also slighted Hearn and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman for "always talking." White claimed he has said nothing about Matchroom Boxing or the WBC, but Zuffa Boxing is constantly part of their discussions.

De La Hoya will always be a thorn in White's side, but the latter has recently had more issues with Hearn.

Dana White responds to recent Eddie Hearn criticism

Matchroo chairman Eddie Hearn | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Hearn had a lot to say about the recently announced Zuffa Boxing World Championship, the belts announced within the last week. The Matchroom Boxing promoter called White's promotion "arrogant" for creating a "cringy" title, saying it was disrespectful to the sport of boxing.

IBF and The Ring cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia will compete for the inaugural Zuffa Boxing cruiserweight title against Brandon Glanton in the main event of Zuffa Boxing 04. Opetaia's IBF title will also be on the line in that fight.

Hearn claimed anyone could create their own world title if they were opinionated enough to believe people would care to win that belt. He slammed White for making a mockery of the sanctioning bodies, which have been in place for decades.

The Zuffa Boxing world title might be controversial, but it is not surprising. White has repeatedly claimed his new promotion would take over the sport, much like he did with MMA, going as far as to say he would "get rid of" the sanctioning bodies.

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