Hunter Campbell allegedly issues threats during UFC negotiations
Things are getting heated as a recent announcement from Dana White spiked controversy. Dana White recently announced that Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane will headline as an interim heavyweight title match at UFC 265. This came to a shock for the MMA world as Francis Ngannou had won the heavyweight title in March against Stipe Miocic. Things got uglier as Ariel Helwani tweeted out putting the brunt of the announcement on Dana White.
“Regarding today’s interim news, you’d be shocked how often they threaten this &/or how often they threaten to strip. And while most of the criticism has been directed towards Dana White – he is the face after all – it’s really been the M.O. of Hunter Campbell since he took over.”
Hunter Campbell and Dana White were in serious hot water. Hunter Campbell is the UFC’s chief business officer. He is like a lawyer for the promotion but is hardly seen publicly. Many fighters have a negative impression of him as he constantly threatens to strip fighters of their titles and remove them from the promotion.
He stepped in as general manager of the company after Lorenzo Fertitta left the business early this year. Fighters have recently started to complain against the treatment they received from Hunter Campbell with Ariel Helwani writing;
“Think of him as the UFC’s general manager if they were a sports team. Yet, he never speaks publicly or has to explain moves like a GM would from time to time. Good gig! Anyway, some enjoy dealing with him but this is right up his alley. It happens way more than fans think.”
Dana white has had some heated exchange with Francis Ngannou’s camp with his manager Marquel Martin saying that the decision to make an interim heavyweight title fight came to them as a surprise. Dana white had some harsh words for the camp of Francis Ngannou with the other party also throwing back some threats and insults. There has been a back and forth of threats between both parties with the discussion still going on.