Ronda Rousey just dropped a bombshell. And it could shake the UFC. The former bantamweight champion has previously said she initially approached the promotion about a potential fight with Gina Carano. But the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement. As a result, MVP stepped in to handle promotion duties for the bout, which is now scheduled to stream on Netflix on May 16. Now, the 39-year-old has revealed that a key UFC executive was responsible for the breakdown in negotiations. And no, it’s not Dana White.

“Oh man, I mean, there was kind of like a cascade of things that led to it,” Rousey told CBS Mornings. “But largely, I wanted to rewrite my own ending in MMA. 

“It was just unfinished. I never formally retired. Well, Dana said I retired, and I hadn’t fought in like 10 years. But I think I needed everybody to kind of give up on me before I knew I was coming back, just for me. I first reached out to UFC to get it done because I have so much love for them and Dana for what he did for me. But he’s not really in charge anymore. Now, this guy, Hunter Campbell, was running things. 

“And he was really trying to like sabotage the deal and get me to fight other people and misrepresent[ed] Gina, saying that she wasn’t serious and she wasn’t going to make the weight and stuff like that. So, I talked to Gina, and I was like, ‘Listen, I think we should go and do this on our own.’ And she said, ‘You know what, I’m gonna trust you, I’m gonna follow your lead.’”

Hunter Campbell, the current Chief Business Officer at UFC, joined the promotion after Ronda Rousey had retired in 2016. He initially served as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel before taking up his current role in the promotion. His responsibilities include handling fighter contract negotiations, overseeing roster management and matchmaking, contributing to major strategic decisions and event development, and serving as the key liaison with athletic commissions.

Clearly, Rousey’s vision for her future didn’t align with Campbell’s, and the fight never materialized under the UFC banner. That’s hardly surprising—when the promotion could match her with elite names like Kayla Harrison, Amanda Nunes, or Valentina Shevchenko, opting for Gina Carano, who hasn’t competed in over 16 years, makes little business sense. Still, this isn’t the first time Rousey has aimed at Campbell since announcing her Netflix bout against Carano.

“P.S. #HunterCampbell pissed off the wrong b—h,” Rousey wrote on X back in March when the Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry fight was announced. “I’m coming for your job motherf—ker.”

Rousey, of course, is far from the only fighter to have criticized Campbell. 

Colby Covington has similar feelings about Hunter Campbell as Ronda Rousey

Last month, Colby Covington expressed his frustration as his long layoff continued. And he openly criticized how the promotion handles its fighters behind the scenes. Speaking during a stream with KICK streamer N3on, Covington claimed fighters have little control over their careers, pointing directly at UFC executive Hunter Campbell.

“You have no say,” Covington said. “Hunter Campbell, who is like the UFC lawyer, he kind of just tells you what direction they’re going to go, and it’s either you take it or leave it.

He went further, alleging that turning down fights can lead to being sidelined indefinitely. 

“They’ll say, ‘You turned down this fight, now you’re not going to fight for the year…’ They’ll freeze you out.”

Covington also cited Arman Tsarukyan as an example, claiming he’s being “iced” after withdrawing from a title fight against Islam Makhachev.

Notably, though, Hunter Campbell has yet to comment on the accusations made against him. 

It appears Hunter Campbell’s management style closely follows a dictatorship. It’s either his way or the highway. But what do you make of these allegations? 

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