In response to the comments made by Merchant, Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio said exclusively to MMAWeekly.com, "I think they’re completely ridiculous."

Merchant made no comment of where he got his information, but according to Atencio, the statement appears to be fabricated.

"I don’t see where they would get it from," stated Atencio. "But based on the comment I would say that yeah, he definitely had to make it up.

"I’m not him, so I’m not going to assume anything like possibly they would. I’m not going to make rumors; all I can say is that it’s completely false."

According to Atencio, De La Hoya was at the Honda Center event because his Golden Boy Promotions was truly involved with the event because of their interest in mixed martial arts, and not because of an alleged payday.

"We knew he was going to be there (because) he’s our partner," commented Atencio. "Being our partner – the good partner that he is – he honored and wanted to live up to his part of the bargain; that was being part of the show."

As it stands currently, Atencio confirmed that Golden Boy Promotions continues to have a partnership with Affliction and will be involved with the mixed martial arts promotion’s future endeavors.