Jon Jones slams ‘Backstabbing’ Ariel Helwani for name-Dropping Him During Ngannou Interview

Jon JonesJon Jones took exception to Ariel Helwani using his name during an interview with Francis Ngannou on Monday’s edition…

Jon Jones

Jon Jones took exception to Ariel Helwani using his name during an interview with Francis Ngannou on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

Following his impressive professional boxing debut against Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Ngannou joined Helwani on the show to discuss his closely-contested split decision loss to ‘The Gypsy King’ and what could potentially come next for the former UFC star. During the course of their conversation, Helwani asked if ‘The Predator’ had a message for any of his naysayers, specifically naming UFC CEO Dana White and the promotions’ reigning heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones.

“And Jon Jones, too, was saying you were looking – and look at you now, right? A lot of people were throwing stones your way,” Helwani said. “It wasn’t just Dana. I know he gets a lot of the attention, but a lot of people weren’t backing you. Fighters weren’t backing you and that, to me, was the part that bothered me the most.”

Helwani never quite finished his thought when referencing Jon Jones, but that was more than enough to get the attention of ‘Bones’ who offered up a scathing response to the MMA Hour host.

“And Jon Jones says you were looking what? You’re such a backstabbing s**t talker bro and you wonder why I haven’t given you an interview in years @arielhelwani,” Jones wrote in response to the clip.

Helwani quickly responded to Jones’ inquiry and referred to an early 2023 interview with RMC Sport where ‘Bones’ suggested that Ngannou wasn’t willing to gamble on himself by turning down the UFC’s record-breaking offer, thus preventing a long-awited clash between the two.

“I don’t think I deserve any criticism,” Jones said. “I’m here. I’m here. Francis had the opportunity to face me and he opted out of the opportunity. If anyone should be criticized, it’s Francis Ngannou. If I’m correct, he was offered the biggest contract in heavyweight history. He had the opportunity to be a guy to dethrone me. He didn’t believe in himself. Francis didn’t believe in himself. He wasn’t willing to gamble on himself” (h/t MMA Fighting).

That certainly didn’t age well.

Jon Jones Comments on Francis Ngannou’s Performance against Tyson Fury

In a follow-up post, Jon Jones was complimentary of Ngannou’s performance against Tyson Fury saying, “I thought he did great, I’m glad the fight was competitive. Opens so many doors for everyone in the future.”

Before signing on the dotted line for a fight with Ngannou, Tyson Fury previously revealed that the UFC had made him an offer to fight Jon Jones in a hybrid-rules bout under the UFC banner. Perhaps someday we’ll see ‘Bones square off with ‘The Gypsy King’ in a ring or the cage, but for now, we’ll have to settle for the heavyweight champ picking fights with Ariel Helwani on social media while he heals up from his pectoral tear.

Chael Sonnen says MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani would ‘Barely qualify as a man’ in scathing tirade

Chael SonnenThree-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen didn’t take kindly to being called out by The MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani and No. 2 ranked middleweight Dricus Du Plessis. On September 9, two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya surrendered the 185-pound crown in a surprisingly lopsided loss to Sean Strickland in the UFC 293 main event. Originally, Dricus […]

Chael Sonnen

Three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen didn’t take kindly to being called out by The MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani and No. 2 ranked middleweight Dricus Du Plessis.

On September 9, two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya surrendered the 185-pound crown in a surprisingly lopsided loss to Sean Strickland in the UFC 293 main event. Originally, Dricus Du Plessis was slated to be the man to face ‘The Last Stylebender’ in the evening’s headliner, but the South African declined the opportunity, citing a foot injury following his second-round knockout of Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 eight weeks prior.

Chael Sonnen called Du Plessis’ injury into question, noting that the fighter had no noticeable limp when he left the cage following his last big victory. ‘Stillknocks’ didn’t take kindly to the insinuation that he was faking or embellishing the injury and took Sonnen to task during an appearance on Helwani’s show.

“What a dumb thing to say, you know? With all that adrenaline in your body, just knocked out Robert Whittaker,” Du Plessis said in response to Sonnen’s comments. “Just faced off with Israel Adesanya, you think I’m going to walk with a limp? I don’t know what kind of man you are, but I’ll fake that limp every day.”

Helwani joined in on the Chael Sonnen slamming, adding that the former middleweight contender often says “stupid things.”

Getting wind of the comments, Chael Sonnen was quick to snap back at both Helwani and Du Plessis during a recent episode of his Beyond the Fight series on YouTube.

“Ariel [Helwani] and Dricus Du Plessis teamed up. The two of them on little ol’ me. I wasn’t even there,” Sonnen said. “I wasn’t even there to defend myself, but had I been, it still would have been two-on-one. The two of them had called me stupid. That’s not a very nice thing to say. Particularly to your intellectual superior. It’s a reckless thing to say. Particularly to your rhetorical superior, but they did it anyway.

And when I watched the piece and Dricus says that I said he skipped the Izzy fight because he had a bad foot. Which he did say and admitted to saying, and then says that his evidence that his foot was not hurt was me watching him walk out of the cage without a limp, which is true. I did watch him walk out of the cage and he did not have a limp. So I’m confused at the part where Chael is stupid.

“So then I get a little bit confused about this and maybe it’s the simple… Maybe I don’t know what the word stupid means. I haven’t actually looked it up. I must tell you I haven’t actually looked it up, but maybe it means something different. Does it mean accurate? It can’t mean inaccurate because Dricus and I are saying the same thing. He walked out of that cage without a limp. That’s what we’re saying. He skipped the Adesanya fight because of a hurt foot.

We’re both saying the same thing. Dricus then goes further and he tells Ariel… And here’s the part that you get upset. [He goes], ‘I don’t know what kind of a man you are.’ Now, I don’t know if he’s talking about Ariel, who would barely qualify as a man, or if he was talking to me. That’s the part I don’t know about.”

Chael Sonnen suggested that Du Plessis’ words would likely start a fight in the streets whilst taking a dig at the South African’s lack of star power and media attention, adding that he’s the only person currently talking about him.

“There’s some things that are fighting words, and every man knows if you tell another man, ‘I don’t know what kind of man you are,’ if you even bring the word ‘man’ into it, you’re now in a fight,” Sonnen said. “Every man knows that, but I don’t know if he said it to me. I don’t really wanna fight with Dricus,” Sonnen said.

“I don’t think anybody’s been more helpful to Dricus. I can guarantee you nobody’s talking about Dricus today except for me. When I do talk about people, I do try to tell the story accurately, and Dricus is saying that he told the media that if he was medically fit to fight that he would, and I am telling you he did not. That did not happen, that’s false.”

Chael Sonnen Calls Out Ariel Helwani for Bringing Himself Into the Argument

Chael Sonnen also bashed the streaking standout for what he perceives to be a fake tough guy act put on by Du Plessis.

“You’re such a tough man that you’re going to fake not limping, doesn’t get you any credit after a fight,” Sonnen said. “There’s no bravado that is built into leaving the ring faking a limp. The macho guy that you’re claiming to be, hides the limp on his way to the fight, not on his way out of the fight.”

Chael Sonnen then briefly turned his attention back toward Ariel Helwani, adding that he was more upset by Helwani’s verbal jab than anything Du Plessis had said.

“I don’t have any kind of a problem with Dricus, I think my bigger problem is with Ariel,” Sonnen said. “I don’t like that Ariel said, ‘Yeah, Chael says a lot of stupid things, including about me.’ He said that [and] he brought himself into it. What stupid things do I say about Ariel? Every now and then I’ve teased Ariel for pretending that he watches soccer, he doesn’t watch soccer. I’ve teased Ariel for pretending he watches darts, he doesn’t watch darts. I’ve teased Ariel for pretending he’s a basketball fan, nobody’s a basketball fan. But I don’t know what I said that was stupid” (h/t Sports Illustrated).

Ariel Helwani attempts to be voice of reason amid rising tension between Ryan Garcia and Oscar De La Hoya

HelwaniThe MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani attempted to be the voice of reason as Ryan Garcia and boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya engaged in a war of words on social media. Garcia has been incredibly critical of his now-former team following his seventh-round TKO loss to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in April. Garcia attended the […]

Helwani

The MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani attempted to be the voice of reason as Ryan Garcia and boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya engaged in a war of words on social media.

Garcia has been incredibly critical of his now-former team following his seventh-round TKO loss to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in April. Garcia attended the post-fight press event without members of his coaching staff and even revealed that a double agent in his camp had been feeding information to Davis prior to their clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As a result, Garcia separated from coach Joe Goossen and has remained openly critical of his team who he alleges walked away from him following the loss to Davis.

“I lost, I’ve seen everybody leave me, and then I just gotta see who’s really there for me,” Garcia told fitness influencer, Bradley Martyn. “After the fight, nobody was there for me, like, my team, but just didn’t come to the press conference and go do nothing, you know what I mean? I was left with somebody betrayed me in camp, they weren’t trying to look out for me after the fight. It was like, I was left with that. It was the worst, and ‘Tank’s team really care about me more than my own team.”

More than two months removed from suffering his first career defeat, Ryan Garcia has remained vocal, much to the chagrin of boxing legend and Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya. Taking to Twitter, De La Hoya ripped into Garcia, telling him to take responsibility for the loss and the consequences that followed.

Oscar De La Hoya Has Heard Enough of Ryan Garcia’s Complaints, Ariel Helwani Attempts to Intervene

“Wtf @RyanGarcia it’s been almost two months and youre still crying about the post presser? The blame for your loss is on YOU and your “advisor” Lupe,” De La Hoya tweeted. “He is the only one who pushed you to accept that INSANE rehydration clause and THAT is the reason you lost. Man up. Own that.”

De La Hoya wasn’t quite done, adding a follow-up Tweet that read, “Also, you keep saying “tanks team offered more support for you” blah blah blah. Bro they SET YOU UP TO LOSE with that rehydration clause and most importantly…AL HAYMON DIDNT EVEN SHOW UP THE ENTIRE WEEK. Actually, he NEVER shows up. How’s that for “support”???”

The very public spat prompted Ariel Helwani to step in as the voice of reason, suggesting the two parties take their differences and discuss them behind closed doors like professionals.

“Horrible look to be publicly fighting with your biggest star,” Helwani tweeted in response. “Regardless of who’s wrong or right, keep this in house.”

Ryan Garcia is now 23-1 following the loss to ‘Tank’ Davis. Garcia later admitted that the grueling weight cut matched with the hydration clause in the fight contract ultimately led to him being less than 100% going into the contest. Garcia is now eyeing a potential move to super lightweight in an effort to avoid the exhaust cut going forward.

Joe Rogan asks WWE icon Ric Flair if he’s ‘Scared’ of Ariel Helwani after hilarious misunderstanding

Joe Rogan Ric FlairWWE legend Ric Flair recently appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and the two icons shared some hilarious moments while also discussing Dana White and Ariel Helwani. While legends in their own separate industries, the two icons sat down for what was an epic podcast that just so happened to feature one of the funniest misunderstandings […]

Joe Rogan Ric Flair

WWE legend Ric Flair recently appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and the two icons shared some hilarious moments while also discussing Dana White and Ariel Helwani.

While legends in their own separate industries, the two icons sat down for what was an epic podcast that just so happened to feature one of the funniest misunderstandings that the Joe Rogan Experience has featured in a long time.

The clip making waves in the MMA world is a short one-minute snippet that starts off with Joe Rogan talking about his relationship with his longtime friend and UFC president Dana White. “I can call Dana at one o’clock in the morning,” Rogan began. “We’ll talk for three hours about fights. Just talk.”

Suddenly, the legend himself, Ric Flair, decides to bring up Ariel Helwani, and that’s when things take a turn for the extremely comical. “Ariel has a good job with him (Dana White), right?” Flair asked.

Ric Flair hilariously mistakes Ariel Helwani for UFC employee and former fighter on Joe Rogan’s podcast

“Ariel Helwani?” Rogan asked, doing a good job of not laughing. It was major news many years ago, but Ariel Helwani and Dana White notoriously broke bad after Helwani leaked UFC news that he was essentially supposed to keep secret.

Dana White and the UFC were extremely angry because, according to them, the UFC was going to release the news themselves, and Helwani violated their trust by choosing to break the news. Helwani was then permanently banned from attending UFC events, media days, press conferences, and basically anything UFC-run.

This is pretty much common knowledge in the industry. Helwani himself brings it up all the time and has famously said he did wonder if it was going to ruin his career, but he chose to persevere and has done extremely well for a professional journalist banned from attending UFC events.

“Ariel Helwani is independent now,” Rogan explained. “He does his own thing… He doesn’t get along with Dana… I don’t have a problem with Ariel. I like Ariel. His show is great… He was with FOX for a while. He was with ESPN for a while… I know his show is very successful.”

The conversation continues to flow before things take a hilarious turn. Flair is about to make a factual blunder that doesn’t really mean anything but is pretty funny to look back on. “I just saw him at WrestleMania,” Ric Flair said. “Ariel is pretty tough, too, right?”

“Is he? I don’t know, I don’t think he ever fought. I don’t even know if he trains,” Joe Rogan answered, kind of chuckling.

“Oh, he didn’t? Well, god. He looks like he did,” Flair responded. Joe Rogan had to chime in here and ask Flair if he was “Scared of him (Ariel Helwani),” to which ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair immediately said, “No.”

“Well, what are you trying to say?” Rogan asked as laughter broke out in the room. Ric Flair does a great job of keeping a straight face even though he had facts a little jumbled and confused. “He looks like he did (fight),” Flair said. “I thought he did fight at one time… He’s well built; he’s very well spoken too.”

The clip ends, and while the things Flair said are harmless, it is pretty funny and endearing to see a living legend like Ric Flair appear so human and get some MMA facts wrong. Humans have a knack for putting people on a pedestal, and when a living icon like ‘The Natureboy’ appears on Joe Rogan’s podcast and gets some facts wrong and looks a bit like an MMA casual, it does come across as very funny, but also extremely endearing to see that happen and realize even people’s idols are just regular humans too.

What do you think of Ric Flair’s funny blunder on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and do you think Ric Flair should be “scared of” Ariel Helwani?

Paddy Pimblett scoffs at future peace offering with Ariel Helwani: ‘He tried to ruin my career’

Paddy Pimblett claims Ariel Helwani tried to ruin his career ahead of UFC 282UFC lightweight contender, Paddy Pimblett has shot the idea of a future rekindling with mixed martial arts journalist, Ariel Helwani, claiming the Canadian reporter “tried to ruin” his career in the build up to his UFC 282 fight with Jared Gordon last December. Pimblett, yet to crack the top-15 of the official lightweight rankings under […]

Paddy Pimblett claims Ariel Helwani tried to ruin his career ahead of UFC 282

UFC lightweight contender, Paddy Pimblett has shot the idea of a future rekindling with mixed martial arts journalist, Ariel Helwani, claiming the Canadian reporter “tried to ruin” his career in the build up to his UFC 282 fight with Jared Gordon last December.

Pimblett, yet to crack the top-15 of the official lightweight rankings under the promotion’s banner, most recently featured in the co-main event of UFC 282 back in December of last year, landing a close, debated decision win over the above-mentioned, Gordon.

However, in the lead-up to the co-headlining slot, Pimblett and Canadian mixed martial arts journalist, Helwani were embroiled in a heated spat, with Pimblett claiming that the latter had attempted to use fighters to earn money and revenue for himself in the form of non-paid interviews.

With the verbal back-and-forth spilling across fight week and the days after Paddy Pimblett’s fourth Octagon victory, the two have yet to reconcile following their public spat. And according to former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, Pimblett, he has no interest in potentially mending bridges in the future.

“The Ariel (Helwani) stuff, people turned on me for telling the truth about Ariel, lad, it’s crazy,” Paddy Pimblett told Severe MMA. “I’ve got all that [receipts]. I’ve got all that on me phone. This ‘receipts’ thing is the maddest shout ever… At the time, I actually considered Ariel a friend. Obviously, a I was never a friend to him. He saw me as a pound sign.” 

“The annoying thing about that was people saying to me,’You’ve just been bullying Ariel and you’ve started an anti-bullying charity.’ My charity isn’t an anti-bullying charity, for one. It’s just a foundation to help people, Two, I haven’t bullied Ariel at all… I said this the other day, I shouldn’t have called him names. I shouldn’t have. …I shouldn’t have said nasty words. Everything else was the truth. He tried to assassinate my character.” (Transcribed by MMA News)

Paddy Pimblett expected to miss 2023 UFC schedule

Expected to remain sidelined for the remainder of this year, PImblett claimed he would be “lucky” to compete in 2023, having undergone a surgical procedure to address an ankle injury suffered in his controversial judging win over Gordon. 

Robert Whittaker hoping to secure third fight with UFC rival Israel Adesanya: ‘I wanna beat him for the title’

Robert Whittaker calls for third fight with Israel Adesanya I wanna beat him for title UFCFormer middleweight champion Robert Whittaker says he is persistent to defeat anyone in the way of a trilogy with Israel Adesanya. ‘The Reaper’ has had a very eventful and successful UFC career, but much of it has been overlooked due to his history with current champion Adesanya. Since 2014, Robert Whittaker has torn through the […]

Robert Whittaker calls for third fight with Israel Adesanya I wanna beat him for title UFC

Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker says he is persistent to defeat anyone in the way of a trilogy with Israel Adesanya.

‘The Reaper’ has had a very eventful and successful UFC career, but much of it has been overlooked due to his history with current champion Adesanya.

Since 2014, Robert Whittaker has torn through the division, only falling short to Adesanya during that time period.

Speaking with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, Robert Whittaker admitted that it could potentially be difficult to convince the UFC and its fans why a trilogy would be necessary, therefore he is prepared to eliminate anyone in his way out of title contention.

“I understand the position that I’m in. I understand that I fought him twice and I want that third fight. And if I have to ruin a lot of other people’s days to get it then I’ll do that.

The Australian fighter says winning back his UFC gold was always the goal, but following UFC 287 he became laser focused on specifically taking it back from Adesanya.

“I really want to fight ‘Izzy’ again. I really want to fight him specifically,” Whittaker said. “I wanna beat him for the title. 

With many overlooking his chances at a title due to his knockout and decision losses to ‘The Last Stylebender’, fans often forget that no one else has really been able to solve the Whittaker puzzle.

He may not be getting any younger but at 32-years-old it’s safe to say he may still have plenty in the tank.

Bobby Knuckles first went head-to-head against Adesanya in a record-setting Oceania spectacle with over 57,000 people in attendance.

Robert Whittaker targets summer UFC return

With Adesanya likely sending Alex Pereira on his way to light heavyweight, a new door has been opened for contending sharks at 185 and Dana White says Adesanya has been in constant contact asking for his next opponent.