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Oscar De La Hoya wants to jump from the ring to the cage -- he's starting his own MMA promotion and he's gunning to sign Chuck Liddell as his first fighter, TMZ Sports has learned.

Oscar and Chuck were leaving the Golden Boy Promotions offices in L.A. when 48-year-old Chuck told us straight-up, "I'm making a comeback for sure."

When we pushed about signing with Oscar he told us, "We'll see" -- but they looked pretty chummy together.

"We're talking some business," Oscar added ... "It's no secret that I love what MMA fighters do. I want to get into the MMA business. I want to start Golden Boy MMA."

Both Oscar and Chuck strongly suggested that Chuck's comeback fight will be against Tito Ortiz -- a guy he's fought 2 times before.

"Tito's always my favorite ... One, he's easy. Two, I never get tired of hitting the guy."

No word on when they're looking to make the fight go down -- but it sounds like they're pushing for sooner rather than later.