Hunter Campbell called "genius" by Kamaru Usman for "old compliment" on Brian Ortega

Former welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman spoke on how much influence UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell has on the going-ons of the company today.

In a recent clip posted by ESPN MMA on Instagram, former UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega described how a brief encounter with Campbell and White told him that he has a fight coming up.

Ortega told the story of how his late-notice fight with Diego Lopes for UFC 303 this weekend got put together, saying:

"Long story short, I was in Texas, chilling. Started wandering around the hotel [and] bumped into Hunter [Campbell] and Dana [White]. Hunter said I looked good. I said, 'Thank you.' That was a compliment. Should have known better. The next day I got a phone call saying, 'Do I wanna fight?' Now we're here."

Here's the video:

Hunter Campbell is widely considered to be the heir to Dana White's throne once the latter retires as the president and official face of the company. White always cites Campbell as one of the few men who join him in his famous "war room" where he spends hours booking fights. The small "compliment" from Campbell seems to be a subtle hint to fighters that they'll be fighting soon.

Kamaru Usman implied this as he commented on the video, saying:

Kamaru Usman's comment on the video. [Image credit: @espnmma on Instagram]

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Kamaru Usman reveals how Jorge Masvidal motivated him to focus on his striking

In a recent clip of his famous podcast, Pound 4 Pound with fellow former UFC world champion Henry Cejudo, Kamaru Usman had an honest conversation with his former bitter rival Jorge Masvidal.

Usman fought Masvidal twice between 2020 and 2021, with the second dance ending via a thunderous KO courtesy of an Usman right cross. Known to be a dangerous wrestler, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' strikes fear in the hearts of men once he grabs a hold of one of their limbs.

Masvidal, however, saw this as a way to get inside the head of Usman, calling the latter's fighting style "humping his leg". The Nigerian-born American wrestler took offense to this back then, saying:

"I gotta be honest, this was something that you [Masvidal] said that kinda hit me and it did make me a little salty. You were like, 'I don't want to see people hump my leg,' and it was a joke but I was like, 'F**k.'"

He also said:

"I was like, 'They paid to watch a fight. They wanna see us, as men, throw hands...they wanna see damage'.... and yeah it pissed me off. I started getting kinda bored with watching me dominate a guy on the ground. F**k that. I liked watching myself throw punches more."

Watch the full clip here: