When Hunter Campbell, the promotion’s chief business officer, takes a personal trip halfway around the world to meet a fighter, fans know something major is brewing. Campbell doesn’t exactly hop on flights to remote locations for casual conversations over tea. His recent visit to Dagestan raised eyebrows across the MMA world, especially after Islam Makhachev’s dominant submission victory over Renato Moicano at UFC 311. Most fans assumed Campbell was there to negotiate the superfight everyone wanted to see between Makhachev and newly promoted lightweight contender Ilia Topuria.<\/p>
But sometimes the obvious answer isn’t the right one. When executives like Campbell make personal visits to fighters, they’re usually cooking up something that goes far beyond what meets the eye. Makhachev has been sitting pretty at the top of the lightweight division with four successful title defenses under his belt, making him one of the most dominant champions in recent memory. Meanwhile, Topuria had just vacated his featherweight title to chase two-division glory, setting up what seemed like the perfect collision course between two unstoppable forces. Now, his teammate and friend, Umar Nurmagomedov just dropped a truth bomb that changes everything fans thought they knew about that meeting.<\/p>
During a recent interview with Adam Zubayraev, Nurmagomedov revealed that Campbell wasn’t there to set up the Makhachev vs Topuria superfight at all. Instead, the UFC<\/a> executive had a completely different agenda that caught everyone off guard. Campbell actually wanted Islam to move up to welterweight and vacate his lightweight title entirely. The reason was that Topuria could become the new 155-pound champion without having to fight the division’s most dangerous man.<\/p> “He [Campbell] came to see Islam, and they wanted Islam to move up. They want to make Topuria the champ at 155. They believe he can really sell fights. Islam doesn’t want to give up his belt. He wants to fight at 155 too…Islam can take the 170 title, then return to 155 and hold both belts.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>