Banned? Dana White, Ryan Garcia react to Oscar De La Hoya’s absence at Zuffa Boxing

Despite fighting on the biggest Zuffa Boxing card yet, Ryan Garcia is still under contract with Golden Boy and Oscar De La Hoya.

In one of the biggest wins of his pro career, Garcia quickly and easily bludgeoned Conor Benn last night (Sept. 12, 2026) from inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Despite the high-profile nature of the card and his athlete’s success, De La Hoya was nowhere to be found on fight night, which created some speculation that UFC CEO Dana White had banned him from the event outright.

Speculation that White firmly denies.

“I do not like De La Hoya, and De La Hoya does not like me,” White explained post-fight news conference. “I would never disrespect him and say, ‘Oh, if he shows up here, treat him like s—t.’ I would call him on the phone and say, ‘Hey, don’t f—king show up to this event because we’re not going to treat you well.’ That was not the case. Why he didn’t show up, I don’t know.”

It’s well-established that White and De La Hoya are longtime enemies, but part of White’s move to boxing guaranteed that he would be working both with and against promoters he doesn’t like (ask Eddie Hearn). There’s also another angle here that potentially explains De La Hoya’s absence, as De La Hoya’s relationship with Garcia has been strained at times despite all the success they’ve achieved together.

In the aftermath of his big win, Garcia reacted to De La Hoya’s absence as well.

“I thought he was gonna be here,” Garcia explained. “They told me he had a seat. I actually invited him to walk out with me, I thought that was gonna be iconic. Everybody was asking me where he was then to have him walk out with me I think would have been special, but it is what it is.”

With only one fight remaining on Garcia’s Golden Boy contract, one would think Oscar De La Hoya would be motivated to spend time with the WBC champion.