It’s Saturday, sunny, in Las Vegas. Specifically, on June 29, 2024. The preliminary fights are being held at UFC 303, an event that has been full of setbacks, such as the withdrawal of Conor McGregor due to an injury from his main fight against Michael Chandler. On the main card, great duels have been scheduled such as Alex Pereira against Jiri Prochazka or Diego Lopes against Brian Ortega. But the worst is yet to come. The latter is indisposed and will not go out to fight. There are four hours left for this to happen and there is no rival for Lopes. But there is Hunter Campbell, chief business officer of the UFC (CBO). He thinks about a possible replacement, but there is very little time left. He comes up with an idea, one last bullet: call Dan Ige, who lives in Las Vegas. He accepts the fight with four hours’ notice and will fight. He will end up losing, but putting up a great battle. The result doesn’t matter.
This short story summarizes the figure of Hunter Campbella fast, skilled, decisive executive, with people skills and a low media profile. A man who, in seven years in the UFC, has become an indispensable figure, the counterweight to Dana White, a manager of the highest level. Let’s go to the beginning. He’s barely out of quarantine, but Campbell is already highly regarded in the entertainment industry in the United States. Born in Las Vegas and son of famous lawyer Donald Campbell, Hunter always knew that his life was directed, by lineage, towards law and laws. And he graduated in this field.
The ‘Sports Business Journal’ tells that Campbell interned at the UFC in 2006 and later became Dana White’s personal lawyer, after graduating while working for his father’s law firm, Campbell & Wiliams. His working life was spent doing what was expected of him, but in 2016 everything changed. The UFC was sold to Endeavor, so there began to be many changes in the company. It was the moment when Hunter Campbell jumped on board, leading the legal team of the largest mixed martial arts league in the world, and serving as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the company. Some time later, he became Chief Business Officer, taking great prominence in a few years in the negotiation of big fights.
This manager focuses especially on negotiating and maintaining relationships with the most special fighters within the UFC. Having to carry out tasks such as a telephone conversation with Conor McGregor or informing Jon Jones that his injury was more serious than expected. But not only that, if you need to do any special procedures to get a visa for a foreign fighter, Hunter Campbell is there. Furthermore, as we learned through the documentary ‘Fight Inc’, the business director works closely with Dana White every day. He has even classified him as a ‘war advisor’.
Dana White, with Hunter Campbell
“We have always had a lawyer involved in the fighting part because, obviously, there are contractual issues and no one has done it as well as Hunter,” Dana White has once noted. «He is super passionate about sports, he is super passionate about fighting and he is a great lawyer»has finished. The truth is that his vision and skill in negotiation, his profile as a businessman and his expertise in one-on-one relationships have allowed the UFC to close great deals for the company in terms of historic fights. Now, he will have to do the same with the meeting between Jon Jones, heavyweight champion, and Tom Aspinall, interim champion, which is so requested by fans.
Renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has described Hunter as the “third most important person in the UFC, only behind Ari Emanuel (CEO of Endeavor, owner of the UFC) and Dana White himself (CEO of the UFC). ». The truth is that, although everything may seem idyllic, numerous voices have suggested that Hunter Campbell could be Dana White’s successor, which in “the future could lead to the creation of some conflict”, something that is not happening at the moment. since Dana White has emerged even more strengthened after the victory of Donald Trump, his friend, in the American presidential elections. Be that as it may, the reality is that in addition to being a business director, Hunter is a counterweight to Dana White within the UFC.
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