Tag: Ariel Helwani

Helwani Explains Why USADA Whereabouts Failures Are “F**ked Up”

MMA reporter Ariel Helwani has criticized the UFC and USADA for expecting fighters to update them on their whereabouts year-round. The discussion surrounding USADA’s whereabouts policy was brought up recently after UFC middleweight Derek Brunson took to Twitter to vent his frustrations after seemingly being flagged for a violation on the app. Since 2015, the…

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MMA reporter Ariel Helwani has criticized the UFC and USADA for expecting fighters to update them on their whereabouts year-round.

The discussion surrounding USADA’s whereabouts policy was brought up recently after UFC middleweight Derek Brunson took to Twitter to vent his frustrations after seemingly being flagged for a violation on the app.

Since 2015, the UFC has partnered with the United States Anti-Doping Agency to ensure the integrity of the sport is upheld. In testing for banned substances, the organization demands that athletes are available at all times, meaning that they require an accurate update on every fighter’s location.

When competitors are found to have not updated their whereabouts and can not be accessed for testing, they are struck with violations. Perhaps most notably in recent times, featherweight contender Yair Rodriguez was suspended for six months towards the end of 2020 after registering three whereabouts failures.

According to longtime MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, the entire policy is questionable. During a recent episode of The MMA Hour, the Canadian assessed Brunson’s tweets on the matter, criticizing the fact that UFC fighters, who are independent contractors, are required to provide an organization with their location when they aren’t employees.

“The Derek Brunson tweets of last week, where he talked about the USADA app, and he talked about how, ‘This app sucks, and I have to tell them where I am 24/7, and this is crazy.’ And I responded to it a little bit,” said Helwani. “Could you imagine being an independent contractor, meaning someone who comes to your house, your gardener, right, your guy who fixes your cable, your guy who fixes your broken sink, your plumber, whatever… could you imagine being that guy and coming to your house twice a year, three times a year, but having to tell me what you’re doing for 365? Having to update your whereabouts 365 because you did two or three jobs for me?

“I’m only paying you two to three times a year, but you gotta tell me where you are at all times, and by the way, you’ve gotta wear a uniform when you come to my house, you’ve gotta do what I say, you can’t come in wearing this type of clothes. No, that’s not how life works,” asserted Helwani.

Helwani went on to note that actual employees of the UFC aren’t required to provide their whereabouts, while independently contracted fighters are. That, he says, is “f*cked up.”

“You guys have to update an app to let the promotion know where you are. And guess what, you know what’s the best part? The actual employees of said organization don’t even have to do that… But the independent contractors do. Do you guys realize how f*cked up that is?”

Do you agree with Ariel Helwani’s take on USADA’s whereabouts policy?

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Iaquinta On Open Scoring: “The Smarter Fighter Doesn’t Need To Know”

UFC veteran Al Iaquinta thinks that if a universal open scoring system was implemented across MMA, it would do more harm than good. Iaquinta has been a strong advocate for UFC fighter rights, more specifically when it comes to fighter pay. But, the former lightweight title challenger doesn’t think an open scoring system would be…

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UFC veteran Al Iaquinta thinks that if a universal open scoring system was implemented across MMA, it would do more harm than good.

Iaquinta has been a strong advocate for UFC fighter rights, more specifically when it comes to fighter pay. But, the former lightweight title challenger doesn’t think an open scoring system would be a good idea.

The concept of open scoring has run rampant in public discourse following the controversial fight between Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira this past weekend. Vieira won via split decision despite getting outstruck in virtually every category by Holm.

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Iaquinta explained how an open scoring system would change the trajectory of a fight.

“The smarter fighter going into the fifth round doesn’t need to know the score,” Iaquinta opined. “They know the score. If their technique and their experience and everything, their fight IQ is higher than the other fighter, you’re evening the playing field by giving the dumber fighter the scorecard going into the later rounds. Or going into any round, really.

“A fighter might come out and they might’ve thought they won, and they didn’t. Now, say I know I won the fight, I might know I lost the round, he might’ve thought I lost it too but I know I lost it and so I know I need to go hard in the third. So, I think the smarter fighter doesn’t want the other fighter to know in between rounds.”

Helwani has been a strong advocate of open scoring over the past few months and feels that it’s the best solution for a quick fix to controversial judging. On the other hand, Iaquinta isn’t sold on the idea that MMA should be treated like other sports such as baseball and football where the scores are publicized.

Iaquinta also argued that the discussion has switched to just talking about scoring rather than athletes going out and trying to finish the fight. Helwani went on to point out that an open scoring system would treat judges like umpires in baseball, with fighters getting a general idea of how each judge tends to score vs. how umpires set up a strike zone.

Iaquinta was The Ultimate Fighter: Season 15 runner-up, losing to Michael Chiesa in the finale. He went on to win his first three fights in the Octagon, including over former interim title challenger Kevin Lee.

Iaquinta has gone on to have a successful career in the cage with wins over the likes of Jorge Masvidal, Diego Sanchez, and Joe Lauzon. He has lost three in a row and seems in no rush to return to fighting.

In the meantime, the debate surrounding open scoring marches on, and it’s unclear if there will be significant changes to the current scoring system in larger promotions such as the UFC and Bellator.

Do you agree with Al Iaquinta’s position on open scoring?

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Ariel Helwani Pinpoints A ‘Quick Fix’ To MMA Judging

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has once again advocated for open scoring to be used in the UFC, claiming that it would go some way towards ‘fixing’ the perceived judging issue. While the criticism of judges and certain results is nothing new, the debate surrounding the scoring of fights has picked up in recent days following…

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MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has once again advocated for open scoring to be used in the UFC, claiming that it would go some way towards ‘fixing’ the perceived judging issue.

While the criticism of judges and certain results is nothing new, the debate surrounding the scoring of fights has picked up in recent days following a controversial UFC Vegas 55 main event verdict.

This past weekend’s headliner saw Holly Holm fall on the wrong side of a split decision against rising contender Ketlen Vieira. Having controlled the Brazilian for over 10 minutes, “The Preacher’s Daughter,” as well as many fans, suggested that she did enough to have earned the nod instead.

On the flip side, some pundits have pointed out the language in the criteria, which specifically busts the myth that control time or takedowns without effective offense scores in the eye of the judges.

From the need for better judges and a clearer criteria to calls for the UFC’s fighters and broadcasters to better educate themselves on how bouts are scored, a whole host of pitches have been made in recent times.

The latest to give their two-pence is renowned journalist Helwani, who chimed in on the discussion during a recent episode of The MMA Hour.

The Canadian has long been a supporter of the implementation of open scoring, which is most notably used by the Invicta FC and Combate Global promotions. The recent discourse about perceived ‘bad judging’ has only increased Helwani’s backing for the system, which he believes would help bridge the gap to improvement, largely through accountability.

“Of course we need better judges. Of course we need judges who understand how to score MMA fights,” acknowledged Helwani. “What I have said is I believe that the reason why open scoring would be great is for a few reasons. Number one, it’s a bridge to improving the judging. Open scoring is all about accountability. It’s all about, all right, if you aren’t doing your job, if you aren’t on the hot seat, if you aren’t scoring fight the right way… well, when does the accountability come?

“(With open scoring,) there’s a little more focus, just like there is in other sports when there’s bad officiating, on the bad judging. Perhaps that focus, that accountability, would lead to improvement,” added Helwani.

With that said, rather than direct changes to the criteria or the judges themselves, especially given that there isn’t exactly a wide pool of judges to choose from, Helwani pinpointed the public display of scoring during fights as a potentially quick fix, as it would grant the athlete on the receiving end of a bad score the chance to change their fate.

“I feel, at the very least, that the fighters should know where they stand. If they’re gonna get screwed, if they’re gonna get misjudged, at least let them know,” said Helwani. “What’s one way that we can bridge the gap to improvement? One quickish fix is just make it all out in the open. Just let the world know what’s going on in real time, and let the fighters know if they’re about to be screwed. Let them have a say in the matter and let them be able to change their fate.”

While open scoring has the support of a number of UFC fighters, including Stephen Thompson and Cory Sandhagen, the likes of Al Iaquinta and Daniel Cormier have expressed their opposition to the system, which has certainly split option in all corners of the MMA community.

Do you agree with Ariel Helwani? Is open scoring a ‘quick fix’ for MMA judging?

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Rogan Echoes Helwani’s Take On Oliveira Being “Screwed” At UFC 274

Joe Rogan agrees with journalist Ariel Helwani’s notion that Charles Oliveira was robbed of his title at UFC 274 due to a scale controversy. Oliveira was stripped of the UFC lightweight title for missing weight ahead of his UFC 274 main event against Justin Gaethje. Despite not being eligible to win the belt, Oliveira finished…

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Joe Rogan agrees with journalist Ariel Helwani’s notion that Charles Oliveira was robbed of his title at UFC 274 due to a scale controversy.

Oliveira was stripped of the UFC lightweight title for missing weight ahead of his UFC 274 main event against Justin Gaethje. Despite not being eligible to win the belt, Oliveira finished Gaethje in Round 1 via rear-naked choke.

Just days after Oliveira’s victory, Helwani went on The MMA Hour and claimed that he was screwed by the promotion following his weight miss. This came as many questioned the functionality of the scales in Phoenix that were used for fighters to monitor their weight.

UFC executive Marc Ratner denies that the scales were tampered with ahead of Oliveira’s weigh-in, but Helwani and Rogan disagree.

During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan gave his thoughts on Oliveira missing weight before UFC 274.

“He’s a very, very nice guy, and he got screwed in his last fight,” Rogan said of Oliveira. “There was some shenanigans with the scale. Some people messed with the scale. Here’s a problem these digital scales, foreign fighters- they use kilograms. And in America, obviously, we use pounds, right… So, these scales are calibrated and then the foreign fighters would reset the scale so they could switch it back to kilograms. So it fu*ked up the whole calibration. And so he would weigh in the night before the weigh-ins, and he was like, ‘oh, I’m good to go.’ And then in the morning, he goes and shows up for the weight cut and it’s a pound plus off and that is directly related to this calibration issue.” (h/t MiddleEasy)

Oliveira is now the No. 1 lightweight contender after defeating Gaethje. He’s expected to return later this year to compete for the now-vacant lightweight belt.

Oliveira earned the title following Khabib Nurmagomedov’s vacation, finishing Michael Chandler at UFC 262. He went on to successfully defend it against Dustin Poirier last December at UFC 269.

UFC President Dana White said during his UFC 274 post-fight press conference that extra security will surround weight scales going forward. For Oliveira, he’ll look to regain the lightweight throne in his next Octagon appearance.

Do you agree with Joe Rogan and Ariel Helwani regarding Charles Oliveira’s weight miss?

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Michael Chandler Fractures Shin in Devastating Knockout of Tony Ferguson at UFC 274

Michael ChandlerMichael Chandler believes he fractured his shinbone moments before delivering a jaw-dropping knockout against Tony Ferguson at UFC 274.  Chandler (23-7-0) stepped into the Octagon at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ with the goal of getting back into the win column after a two-fight skid. In the process, Chandler provided the live audience and […]

Michael Chandler

Michael Chandler believes he fractured his shinbone moments before delivering a jaw-dropping knockout against Tony Ferguson at UFC 274. 

Chandler (23-7-0) stepped into the Octagon at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ with the goal of getting back into the win column after a two-fight skid. In the process, Chandler provided the live audience and fans at home with a stunning first-round front-kick KO of ‘El Cucuy’. 

While discussing the bout on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Chandler confirmed that his shinbone was likely fractured from one of the two kicks thrown that evening.

“God did not create our bones to crack up against each other like we do,” said Chandler. “I threw two kicks in that fight – one on Tony’s inside right leg as he was a southpaw. He switched stances and I hit him with a really hard low kick as well.”

“So [my] shinbone is jacked up, could have a fracture in there. My ankle has had some problems in the past. Obviously, the dislocated finger… it was definitely a hundred percent dislocated after having Dr. Davidson look at it,” Chandler said.

Michael Chandler’s Knockout Created a Scary Situation For Tony Ferguson Fans

Early in the fight, Ferguson appeared to have Chandler on the ropes as he landed clean causing Chandler’s right eye to swell significantly. Luckily for ‘Iron’ Mike, it only took 17 seconds of the second round for Chandler to send Ferguson crashing to the mat with a kick to the chin, reminiscent of Anderson Silva’s beloved front-kick to the face of Vitor Belfort at UFC 126. 

‘El Cucuy’ remained unconscious for multiple minutes causing concern among fans. Thankfully Ferguson regained consciousness and was released from a local hospital following a CT scan that evening.

After his win, Michael Chandler had words with Nate Diaz on Twitter with the both seemingly agreeing to a bout slated for UFC 277 on July 30. The UFC has not commented on the potential bout as of yet.

Would you like to see Michael Chandler vs. Nate Diaz?

Ariel Helwani Claims That “Charles Oliveira Was Screwed” At UFC 274

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani believes that the decision to strip Charles Oliveira of the lightweight title following his weight miss was “lunacy” from the UFC. This week, Oliveira is coming off another memorable victory. Having overcome adversity to defeat Michael Chandler last May and Dustin Poirier in December, “Do Bronx” was presented with Justin Gaethje…

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MMA journalist Ariel Helwani believes that the decision to strip Charles Oliveira of the lightweight title following his weight miss was “lunacy” from the UFC.

This week, Oliveira is coming off another memorable victory. Having overcome adversity to defeat Michael Chandler last May and Dustin Poirier in December, “Do Bronx” was presented with Justin Gaethje as his next challenge in the UFC 274 main event.

Once again recovering from early knockdowns, something that is becoming a habit for the Brazilian, Oliveira locked in a rear-naked choke for the victory. Unfortunately, he still left Phoenix lighter than he arrived.

That’s because even with the win, a 0.5-pound weight miss meant that the belt was vacated upon the start of Saturday’s headliner. With Oliveira’s 11th consecutive triumph, the title remains without an owner for the time being.

However, that’s not how Helwani sees things. According to the Canadian, it’s very clear who the UFC lightweight king is.

During a recent edition of The MMA Hour, Helwani reacted to this past weekend’s action. In a scathing rant, the 39-year-old claimed that Oliveira was “screwed” by the UFC following his weight miss.

“I feel very confident in saying that Charles Oliveira was screwed. Charles Oliveira is being screwed right now,” insisted Helwani. “Charles Oliveira is the lightweight champion of the UFC, there is no question in my mind. I think it is absolute lunacy. I think it is crazy. I think it is one of the craziest things we’ve ever seen, that this guy shows up a half-a-pound over on a beam scale, not a digital scale, a beam scale, and there’s no human error involved and just on the spot they’re gonna say, ‘Yeah, you’re stripped.’ For half-a-pound?”

Helwani went on to cite other instances of champions seemingly not being on weight, but being granted the benefit of the doubt, as evidence for his take.

The Canadian recalled Khabib Nurmagomedov’s controversial weigh-in ahead of his 2020 defense against Gaethje, Daniel Cormier’s memorable use of the towel prior to UFC 210, and some beneficial rounding down for his compatriot Georges St-Pierre.

“Are you telling me in the history of the UFC this has never happened before? Of course it’s happened before,” said Helwani. “If that fight this past weekend was happening in Las Vegas, Charles Oliveira would still be the lightweight champion. He never would’ve had to weigh in a second time, let alone a third time, let alone need the hour allowance.

“I’ve seen enough weigh-ins in Las Vegas. It’s boom, boom, (done). We all saw the clip, I re-posted it, not because I have an ax to grind with Khabib, but because it was very noticeable,” Helwani continued. “Khabib, Gaethje, that thing wasn’t even settled; ‘Boom, boom, please go to the back and re-hydrate.’ We’ve seen this time and again… In Buffalo, (Daniel Cormier) didn’t make the weight. He held onto the towel. GSP, Montreal, my other boy, he was over 170 and they rounded down.”

Helwani: Stripping Oliveira Was “Criminal”

With those points in mind, Helwani suggests that the different attitude towards Oliveira’s narrow indiscretion on the scale was “criminal.”

The journalist also noted that his view was without even considering talk of a decalibrated scale behind the scenes, which the likes of Ariane Carnelossi notably complained about in the aftermath of last Friday’s weigh-ins.

“Time and again, people in championship fights have been over… All of a sudden, Charles gets the bad luck, the misfortune of running into a stickler, who’s gonna be like, ‘Nope, we’re gonna get this on the dot.’ And I’m not even talking about the conspiracy that the weight thingy, the calibration on the scale, I’m not even talking about that. But for a half-a-pound… the fact that he was stripped of the belt, to me, it’s absolutely criminal,” concluded Helwani.

Like Helwani, it seems the prevailing view is that Oliveira remains the kingpin at 155 pounds. Nevertheless, “Do Bronx” will have to prove that when he returns to action to fight for the now-vacant lightweight strap later this year.

Do you agree with Ariel Helwani’s view on the UFC’s decision to strip Charles Oliveira of the lightweight title?

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