In recent times, there was numerous speak about Dana White’s role with the UFC.
White simply told fans not to observe UFC 325 in the event that they didn’t like the choice to book the featherweight title rematch that headlined the cardboard, just for the result to repeat itself lower than a 12 months on from the primary bout.
Saturday night’s major event in Sydney wasn’t the primary example of the promotion’s matchmaking being called into query in 2026 either.
Meanwhile, White wasn’t in Australia for the event resulting from a Zuffa Boxing card, with the launch of this recent promotion leading more people to query whether the UFC president isn’t nearly as involved as he has been up to now.
We seemingly got some answers about this resulting from a judge’s decision regarding an ongoing lawsuit.
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Dana White says he doesn’t really do matchmaking anymore since Hunter Campbell got here in
Dana White’s contract signifies that he’s not leaving the UFC anytime soon, but it surely has been identified quite a few times, especially in recent times, that he doesn’t seem as involved as he has been up to now.
Whether it’s other projects he’s working on like Power Slap and Zuffa Boxing or his comments in interviews and at press conferences, there have been signs that the leading MMA promotion isn’t any longer his primary focus.
This goes hand-in-hand with a number of the other criticisms of the UFC in recent times, from questions on their matchmaking to the shortage of creative promotion to the continued use of the Meta Apex.
In December last 12 months, Judge Richard F. Boulware ordered a “spoliation hearing” within the Cirkunov v. Zuffa class motion lawsuit for February 4-5 to debate whether communications that the UFC was presupposed to keep for the anti-trust cases were destroyed.
White, together with a member of the UFC’s legal department, were ordered to testify and were questioned about a number of the promotion and its president’s practices.
As noted by several sources on social media, including Nate Wilcox and FightOpinion, White was asked at one point in regards to the UFC matchmakers before elaborating on their roles.
He responded by saying, “Since Hunter Campbell got here in, I don’t really try this anymore.”
“When FightOpinion and I began publicly stating that Dana White doesn’t really run the UFC, we got a TON of pushback,” Wilcox followed up on X. “Now he’s admitting it under oath.”
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Hunter Campbell’s changing UFC role has had a large impact on the promotion
Hunter Campbell became the Chief Business Officer of the UFC in 2019 after initially working with the promotion as a legal counsel.
It was clear just how integral he’s to the day-to-day running of the promotion to anyone who watched the ‘Fight Inc: Contained in the UFC’ documentary series that was put out in 2024.
While many have seen Campbell as potentially being Dana White’s successor, the UFC president’s recent comments suggest that that is already the case and has been for a while, not less than so far as matchmaking is anxious.
A key a part of the UFC’s growth has been delivering the fights that the fans wish to see, which is a component of the promotion that has been specifically criticized in recent times.
White should still be the face of the promotion but by his own admission, he took a step back from this process several years ago.