Hunter Campbell has consistently pulled the strings behind the scenes at the UFC when it comes to negotiating fights, and things have been no different this year.
The UFC is going through somewhat of a difficult period at the moment and boxing promoter Eddie Hearn believes it’s because of the lack of stars in the sport.
Not only that, but the promotion is seemingly struggling to negotiate fights with some of their most famous fighters, Jon Jones being the most notable as he’s still yet to accept a fight against Tom Aspinall.
Another being lightweight champion Islam Makhachev who was seemingly refusing to defend his title against Ilia Topuria.
Hunter Campbell travels to Dagestan to negotiate with Makhachev
Despite the Russian’s refusal to fight Topuria, the UFC matchmaker Hunter Campbell recently traveled to Dagestan in an attempt to negotiate Makhachev’s next fight.
Last year, the promotion released a documentary called ‘Fighters Inc: Inside the UFC’ and Campbell ended up receiving a lot of praise from the fanbase because of his work behind the scenes which were shown in the documentary.
“They are discussing how they can duck Ilia without looking scared,” one fan reacted to the image of them together.
“Hunter has aura, not gonna lie,” another fan commented.
“Hunter Campbell putting the UFC on his back while Dana’s off doing unlimited side quests,” a third fan stated.
“Hunter Campbell is the guy who runs the UFC behind the scenes. Dana White is just the face but everyone knows Hunter is the one who really runs the show,” another fan said.
Fans have become concerned with Dana White‘s involvement or lack there of in the UFC recently, especially following his announcement that he will be running his own boxing promotion.
Who will Islam Makhachev fight if not Ilia Topuria?
If negotiations between Makhachev and his team and the UFC didn’t go according to plan regarding a fight against Topuria, there is seemingly only one other contender that he could possibly fight.
Justin Gaethje recently scored an impressive win over Rafael Fiziev, and after his fight, Makhachev stated that he would like to fight ‘The Highlight’.
Charles Oliveira likely needs one more win before he is considered for another title shot, with Arman Tsarukyan also in the same position.