Tag: Ariel Helwani

Ariel Helwani Joins ESPN & Takes ‘The MMA Hour’ With Him

Ariel Helwani will make the move to ESPN, and he’s joining a prominent personality:

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Veteran MMA reporter Ariel Helwani will be joining Chael Sonnen at ESPN for MMA commentating duties, Helwani and ESPN announced on Thursday.

Helwani, who will leave behind his position at MMAFighting.com, where he hosted the popular show ‘The MMA Hour,’ was voted ‘MMA Journalist of the Year’ at the World MMA Awards six times. Helwani will take over in his new position next month, where he will host a show called “Ariel & The Bad Guy” with Sonnen on the networks streaming service ESPN+. He will also take “The MMA Hour” with him, where it will be titled “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.”

He covered the UFC on FOX a few years ago but was removed from his post after politics and issues with UFC forced him out of his position.

Rob King, ESPN’s senior vice president of original content, newsgathering and digital media, was extremely complimentary of Helwani in a new release via MMAjunkie, praising the veteran MMA journalist’s addition to ESPN’s MMA team:

“Ariel is a dynamic and talented insider whose insights and acumen will expand and enhance our multimedia coverage of the mixed martial arts world. Pairing Ariel and Chael, the insider and the fighter, on ESPN+ is going to make for an energetic and engaging show that will be must-see for any MMA fan.”

Helwani and Sonnen’s move to ESPN follows the UFC’s new media rights deal with the network, which will officially begin in 2019. The UFC will no longer feature live content on FOX or FOX Sports, and will instead rebrand those Fight Night cards as UFC on ESPN.

Helwani himself released a statement on the announcement and expressed his excitement over the move to ESPN:

“For as long as I can remember, my dream has been to work at ESPN. I know the term ‘dream come true’ is often overused, but this is truly that for me. Growing up in Montreal, we didn’t get ESPN, but any time my family would travel down south I would stay in our hotel room as long as possible watching the morning ‘SportsCenter’ on loop. I’ve loved all things ESPN since I was a kid, and in all honesty, it still feels a bit surreal that I am joining the gold standard in sports media. I couldn’t be more excited to get started and am extremely thankful for the opportunity.”

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Ariel Helwani Joins ESPN, Leaving MMAFighting

ESPN is taking its voyage into Mixed Martial Arts very seriously, as evident by today’s announcement that they are bringing on the most recognized journalist in the sport, Ariel Helwani, into the fold on the heels of their $150 million per year d…

ESPN is taking its voyage into Mixed Martial Arts very seriously, as evident by today’s announcement that they are bringing on the most recognized journalist in the sport, Ariel Helwani, into the fold on the heels of their $150 million per year deal with the UFC. Who better to break the big news than Helwani […]

The post Ariel Helwani Joins ESPN, Leaving MMAFighting appeared first on MMA News.

Chael Sonnen ‘Found Out’ About Bellator Tournament When Poster Came Out

Chael Sonnen claims that he ‘doesn’t know’ if he was ‘ever offered a spot’ in the upcoming Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament The “American Gangster” claims that he only learned he was set to feature in…

Chael Sonnen claims that he ‘doesn’t know’ if he was ‘ever offered a spot’ in the upcoming Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament The “American Gangster” claims that he only learned he was set to feature in the eight-man event when he saw his face on the official poster: “I don’t know if I was ever […]

Michael Bisping Eyeing Retirement Fight in England in March

Recently dethroned UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping wants to go out on a high in front of an English crowd Bisping earned the maximum respect of the MMA community last weekend when he stepped up to replace Anderson Silva on just three weeks no…

Recently dethroned UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping wants to go out on a high in front of an English crowd Bisping earned the maximum respect of the MMA community last weekend when he stepped up to replace Anderson Silva on just three weeks notice against Kelvin Gastelum. “The Count” is certain that he will not […]

Cain Velasquez Rules Out Fighting In 2017

Hours after word arrived that the UFC’s biggest name may not fight in MMA in 2017, a former UFC champion has revealed he’s planning on doing just that. Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez revealed to Ariel Helwani that he would be out for the remainder of 2017 and hoped to be healthy at some […]

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Hours after word arrived that the UFC’s biggest name may not fight in MMA in 2017, a former UFC champion has revealed he’s planning on doing just that.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez revealed to Ariel Helwani that he would be out for the remainder of 2017 and hoped to be healthy at some time in 2018 at today’s UFC 215 open workouts in Edmonton, Alberta.

Velasquez detailed how far he was from recovering from the back issues that prompted the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to deem him unfit to fight heading into his UFC 207 rematch with Fabricio Werdum, claiming that he’s not ready to make his comeback yet. With a son on the way soon, Velasquez wants to be there for his arrival this fall (via MMA Fighting):

“I’m close. I’m not there yet, but I’m close. And also, focused on this time as far as the baby that we have coing along. I wanted to be there for that, he’s due in November, so it’s been a really good process of healing, being with the family, you know what I mean?”

As for his anticipated return, a situation his fans have become all-too-familiar with in recent years, Velasquez stated he won’t return until he is fully healed up:

“I want to be one hundred percent for the fans, and I need to stop messing around and coming back too early. I can’t do that, I can’t afford that anymore. I gotta be a hundred percent ready to come back, and I’ll do tjhat.”

When he does return, however, Velasquez doesn’t have an opponent in mind, as his team hasn’t discussed any potential bouts:

“That’s not up to me. I’ll ask for whoever. We haven’t talked.”

No doubt one of the best heavyweights to ever compete in mixed martial arts, Velasquez’ career has unfortunately shifted from it being a foregone conclusion that he would be the greatest to a discussion of if he can even ever fight again after countless injuries – mostly from the hard-charging training he defends – have limited him to just two fights since October 2013. He says he’s not done yet and still loves going to the gym to train:

“I want to. I love it. I love fighting, you know?. My favorite part of my job is to go into the gym everyday and work out. I love working out, I’ve never said, ‘Oh, working out sucks,’ I love it, you know what I mean? So, I want to return. Just competing, man. Yeah, I miss competing”

While he still loves all the aspects of fighting, Velasquez closed by saying he just isn’t ready to return this year:

“This year? Probably not.”

You can check out his full interview here:

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Report: Ariel Helwani Banned From First Leg Of McGregor vs. Mayweather World Tour

It looks like the first leg of the awaited Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather world tour will be without one of MMA’s biggest media personalities. With the hype and trash talk set to get started today from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, at 5:30 p.m. EST /2:30 p.m. PST, lines are reportedly out […]

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It looks like the first leg of the awaited Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather world tour will be without one of MMA’s biggest media personalities.

With the hype and trash talk set to get started today from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, at 5:30 p.m. EST /2:30 p.m. PST, lines are reportedly out the door for the anticipated event. But when the questions do start from the press, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani will apparently not be with them.

Helwani just tweeted that he would no longer be working for SHOWTIME Sports as the UFC specifically requested to have him removed from the opening leg of the tour, after which he expressed his disappointment at their decision:

Helwani also revealed that he had taken a late flight from New York City to be in L.A. for the tour, and was dealt the news when he arrived. Even with that disappointment, however, he reassured fans he would be at future tour stops in Toronto and New York:

If you’ll remember, Helwani’s beef with the UFC runs deep, and he was notoriously barred from covering last year’s UFC 199, also in Los Angeles, when he broke the massive story that former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar was returning at the landmark UFC 200 hours before it was to be officially announced during the pay-per-view (PPV) main card.

He then opened up about his tepid past with the UFC in an emotional segment on his weekly show “The MMA Hour” the following Monday, discussing his tenuous-at-best relationship with the previous UFC regime and adding that it even once became physical became him, Dana White, and Lorenzo Fertitta.

It appears that dislike for Helwani’s style of journalism has carried over into the new regime, as well.

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