Report: UFC blocked GSP from boxing De La Hoya

Oscar De La Hoya and Georges St-Pierre were apparently in talks to meet in a boxing match until UFC president Dana White stopped the fight from happening.

St-Pierre, a former UFC two-division champion, was the target opponent for De La Hoya's comeback fight, and the two sides even began negotiating, a source told MMA Junkie's Simon Samano and Mike Bohn.

But the UFC reportedly didn't allow St-Pierre to accept the boxing match despite the fact he hasn't competed in the promotion since 2017 and officially retired from mixed martial arts in 2019. St-Pierre remains under contract with the UFC, which is common practice for retired fighters.

Triller CEO Ryan Kavanaugh first made mention of the UFC blocking St-Pierre from boxing De La Hoya in a fiery Instagram post last week. Triller is the company that promoted the April boxing match between Jake Paul and Ben Askren - who received permission from White to take the fight - and is set to host De La Hoya's comeback bout.

"It is a big payday for GSP and both he and Oscar's dream to fight each other," Kavanaugh wrote. "Dana would rather hold back those who put the UFC where it is and why?"

De La Hoya announced last month that he'll return to the ring following a 12-year retirement. The last time the 48-year-old competed, he suffered a corner stoppage loss to Manny Pacquiao. De La Hoya won world boxing titles in six weight classes during his 16-year professional career.

St-Pierre, widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, hasn't competed since capturing the UFC middleweight title against Michael Bisping in November 2017.