"Give Hunter Campbell the da*n ball" - MMA analysts discuss Dana White's seemingly declining involvement in the UFC

With his Power Slap endeavors and recent foray into boxing promotion, UFC president Dana White's presence has declined in the company he helped build.

Earlier this year, rumors have been circulating that the UFC head honcho might pass the torch to someone else. That someone else is UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell, as most pundits are speculating.

Renowned MMA analysts Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell talked about this possible transition in the UFC on their YouTube show, Morning Kombat. Campbell said:

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"It's not that he [White] necessarily needed to be there, but UFC Atlanta was a big Fight Night card in a big time city over the weekend, and it was another event where Dana White was not in attendance. What does this say about his current role? Is it good that the UFC can run without Dana? Or should the UFC appoint someone else to help promote the brand for all the times that Dana isn't there?"

Campbell then proceeded to cite major UFC events where White had to leave early or looked "distant and uninterested". He added:

"Just give Hunter Campbell the d*mn ball. Not like he needs more responsibilities, but make that guy your voice. Either way you got to have a consistent public voice who can answer the questions and steer the narratives. I don't think it's this guy [White] anymore."

Listen to Brian Campbell's comments below (1:15:56):

When Dana White left a cryptic message on whether he'll continue as UFC CEO

At the UFC 313 post-fight press conference back in March, Dana White sat with the media reporters to answer a few relevant questions regarding the trajectory of his career. One of the most interesting bits of the presser was when the UFC boss talked about his recent brainchild, Power Slap.

White was quite excited about where his slap-fighting league is going and told everybody to watch out for Power Slap this year. This prompted a media member to ask White if he's thinking of letting go of some of his duties as UFC CEO to someone else, in order for him to focus on his other business endeavors.

To this, Dana White smiled and gave quite a cryptic reply:

"We're going to find out this year. This is going to be the...you know...We're going to find out this year. We'll see how long I can run this hard."

Check out Dana White's comments below (16:36):

About the author

Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi