MMA News

Tag: Hunter Campbell

  • Daniel Cormier Has A Take On The Ronda Rousey Win That Hunter Campbell Is Going To Love

    Daniel Cormier says Ronda Rousey’s 17-second submission of Gina Carano at MVP MMA 1 actually vindicated UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell, who had been publicly criticized for blocking the fight from happening in the UFC.

    Cormier addressed the result on his YouTube channel, pushing back on the narrative that Campbell made the wrong call.

    “If I’m Hunter Campbell, who has been getting beat up in the media because he didn’t want to make this fight, I don’t know that last night did anything to say that he made the wrong decision because of the way that it ended, and that’s just me being 1,000 percent truthful. Had you had a great fight, maybe people may have questioned Hunter’s decision. But again, Hunter has made good decisions time and time again, and I believe that last night showed that he made another one by not paying a boat load of money to make that event.”

    Rousey had publicly blamed Campbell for preventing the fight from taking place in the UFC, claiming Dana White was interested in making it happen. The fight ultimately landed with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions on Netflix, where Rousey submitted Carano at 17 seconds of the first round.

  • Matt Brown Rips Ronda Rousey’s Netflix Comeback: ‘There Are No Redeeming Qualities’

    Matt Brown Rips Ronda Rousey’s Netflix Comeback: ‘There Are No Redeeming Qualities’

    Matt Brown says Ronda Rousey’s comeback felt hollow from start to finish and that she missed a major opportunity to repair her relationship with combat sports fans.

    Brown, speaking on The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast, offered a sweeping critique of Rousey’s approach to the fight, the promotion, and her public persona surrounding the Netflix return.

    “For me personally and I think I speak for a lot of people, there was no redeeming qualities for this card, in terms of making us bigger fans of Ronda. I don’t like how she carried herself. I don’t like how she spoke. I think she’s a narcissist, and I think she’s got a lot of mental issues, and I think she maybe needs to go to therapy or something. If she said she’s coming back for money, I get it. You’re prize fighting. Come back get a bag. There’s no redeeming quality about winning this fight. You fought someone that hasn’t fought in 17 years. What are you proud of? There’s nothing to be proud of there.”

    Brown took particular issue with how Rousey promoted the event, including her public targeting of UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell and her shots at current bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison.

    “I think she’s just kind of a narcissistic person and nothing about this really felt good, in my opinion. The whole thing with this fight card, I don’t think anybody would disagree that this whole fight card from beginning to end was kind of cringe as f*ck. Ronda was just the cringiest person ever with her mean mugging the whole time and looking so angry and all the buildup, all the shit she said leading up to it. Talking so much shit to Hunter Campbell and this kind of vengeful personality that she has and all this anger and frustration. You really just need to go to therapy.”

    Brown said he viewed the comeback as a missed opportunity for genuine redemption.

    “That’s what sucks. This was kind of an opportunity for her to redeem herself for the fans and for the community in general. She certainly did not do that at all. At least I felt that way. To me, it’s not interesting. It’s not interesting, and it’s not fun. She had it written down in her pocket. It’s not exciting. It does not feel authentic.”

    He closed with a direct message about her approach to publicity.

    “We want to love Ronda. This was her opportunity — another of her thousand opportunities — but this was a huge opportunity for her to create a lot of love for her. She could have gotten even more views if she came out all humble and just speaking properly and not making it about Hunter Campbell and the UFC. Not making it about trying to go out on a win. Who the fck is doing her public relations? She’s got the fame and the money, she’s got to have a PR person in her ear saying ‘look, just speak like this.’ Even if you fake it. Just fcking say half-right things. She just can’t do it.”

    Rousey submitted Carano in 17 seconds with an armbar and announced her retirement from fighting again following the win. She has expressed interest in remaining involved with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions in an executive capacity.

  • Ronda Rousey Accuses Hunter Campbell of Sabotaging Gina Carano Fight

    Ronda Rousey Accuses Hunter Campbell of Sabotaging Gina Carano Fight

    Ronda Rousey has made serious accusations against UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell, claiming he worked to undermine her return fight against Gina Carano from inside the company she helped build.

    Speaking with Complex News ahead of the May 16 Netflix event, Rousey described what she says was a deliberate effort by Campbell to derail the matchup.

    “They gave me a great deal for their last ever pay-per-view fight card, but it was them switching over to the streaming model and Hunter Campbell being the new leadership in the company. He actively tried to sabotage this fight. And tried to misrepresent Gina, saying that she wasn’t serious, that she wasn’t going to make the weight. He was trying to get me to fight other people. He was basically just shitting on us and the marketability of our fight.”

    She also described what she says was Campbell’s attitude toward the women’s featherweight division, framing his comments as the final confirmation that the UFC’s priorities had fundamentally changed.

    “The way that he spoke of the 145 pound division. Dana first pitched me to do this as the last title match for 145 division to retire it. And then Hunter was like, ‘Yeah, then we could finally get rid of that division.’ The disdain that he spoke of it. I’m like, f**k, you’re the promoter, okay? If it’s not doing well, it’s your fault. I just had two daughters. My husband’s 6’7″, okay? They’re not going to be 135 pounds. This is my daughter’s future, that division. He’s sh*t all over it.”

    Rousey said her mother, who works for an athletic commission, provided the most damning insight into Campbell’s attitude toward fighters.

    “My mom works for an athletic commission. I brought up to her, ‘Do you know this Hunter Campbell guy?’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, he’s a f***ing shithead. He would sell tickets to Christians being fed to lions.’ She was talking to him about getting slap legalized in California and he was saying, ‘Oh, this is a big opportunity for these guys. Otherwise, they would just be doing meth in a trailer park.’ This is what this guy thinks of the fighters. And this is the new leadership in the company.”

    Rousey faces Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Netflix in what she has described as her final MMA fight.

  • Rousey Calls Out UFC’s Hunter Campbell, Says She Wants to be MVP’s Version of Dana White

    Rousey Calls Out UFC’s Hunter Campbell, Says She Wants to be MVP’s Version of Dana White

    Ronda Rousey has a plan that extends well beyond her May 16 comeback fight against Gina Carano, and it involves taking a leadership position in mixed martial arts if the Netflix event proves successful.

    Speaking to TMZ, Rousey made clear she sees herself as the right person to lead Most Valuable Promotions’ expansion into MMA, and she did not hold back when comparing herself to the UFC’s current business leadership.

    “I mean, I think nobody is more qualified than me. I’m definitely more qualified than Hunter f—ing Campbell.”

    She framed MVP’s approach as a direct contrast to what she sees as a UFC that has lost its way.

    “I think that MVP would be an incredible partner and that Nakisa and Jake Paul really believe in making sure the fighters are compensated fairly. The UFC, I think, has forgot that the fighters are the stars and that the characters are what people tune into see.”

    Rousey also described the broader opportunity she believes exists in the market for a promotion willing to prioritize fighters over corporate interests.

    “The sport is at a crossroads. There’s a huge opportunity here. If this event is a huge success, there’s a huge opportunity to take over the market share in MMA and show everybody what they’ve been missing.”

    Rousey last competed in late 2016 when Amanda Nunes knocked her out. She plans to retire from competition after the Carano fight unless an immediate rematch is warranted. The Netflix event takes place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on May 16.