Ariel Helwani Snaps Back at Dana White Over His Report on UFC Saudi Arabia Postponement: ‘It’s an Ego Thing’

Ariel Helwani responds to Dana WhiteRenowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has once again found himself in a pissing contest with Dana White. Earlier this…

Ariel Helwani responds to Dana White

Renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has once again found himself in a pissing contest with Dana White.

Earlier this month, Helwani reported that the UFC’s anticipated debut in Saudi Arabia, originally scheduled for March 2, was being pushed to June after Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the country’s General Entertainment Authority, was not pleased with the card being put together by White and his matchmakers.

During his appearance at the UFC 297 post-fight press conference, White called the report “total b*llshit” and a “straight-out f*cking lie,” claiming that it was he who opted to push the event back in hopes of delivering a much better card for the promotion’s debut in Riyadh.

Helwani took a few moments to respond to the UFC CEO’s claim on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour.

“He’s essentially confirming my report,” Helwani said. “He’s saying it wasn’t good enough. He’s saying he wasn’t happy with the card and so he decided to move it. So ultimately, it’s a bit of an ego thing. It’s like, ‘No, no, no. I decided to move this. No one told me because no one tells me what to do. I decided to move it.’

“Over the last five or so years, has the UFC done anything like this? Have they said, ‘Oh, this card isn’t good enough, we’re moving it.’ No. They make lemonade out of lemons. They make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t. They make it happen. Fights were signed. People had reported them, but [the UFC] hadn’t officially announced anything. That is how it went down. Even Jairzhinho Rozenstruk (who was scheduled to fight Shamil Gaziev at the event) told me about this. He tweeted the same thing. His manager tweeted the same thing.

“Things were happening. Fights were signed, but ultimately, the powers that be in Saudi Arabia said this card isn’t good enough. Let us live to fight another day and push this to June when they’re doing other big events.”

Ariel Helwani is Not Trying to be ‘A Thorn’ in the side of Dana White

During a recent interview with DAZN, Alalshikh revealed that he has spoken to the UFC about booking Conor McGregor for the recently rescheduled event, or another future UFC Saudi card. It’s hard to imagine the UFC putting its prized cash cow on a Fight Night card but with the Saudis reportedly paying $20 million to bring in the Las Vegas-based promotion, it’s probably safe to assume that they, and not Dana White, are the ones calling the shots.

“This is all just spin,” Helwani continued. “He’s essentially saying what I told you. The card wasn’t good enough. He’s just saying it was his call as opposed to their call because he doesn’t want it to seem like anyone is telling them what to do. This is unique because Saudi Arabia are the only ones out there who can do this sort of thing because they’re paying $20 million, as it’s been reported, to have these cards. Given that investment, they want a certain standard.”

The event initially set to emanate from the Saudi Arabian capital included the return of undefeated flyweight prospect Muhammad Mokaev, and a middleweight scrap between Eryk Anderson and Jamie Pickett.

“[Dana White] knows who reported it,” Helwani added. “That bothers him. I’m not trying to be a thorn. I’m just trying to report the news. I reported the news not happening, being moved because it wasn’t good enough.”

Dana White set to hold secret ‘Rabbitt in the hat’ fight for massive UFC 300 card: ‘They’re trying to make this as special as can be’

Dana White set to pull rabbit from the card for massive UFC 300 card in AprilMMA journalist Ariel Halwani casts doubt on the potential success of the upcoming UFC 300 card.  While the recently…

Dana White set to pull rabbit from the card for massive UFC 300 card in April

MMA journalist Ariel Halwani casts doubt on the potential success of the upcoming UFC 300 card. 

While the recently announce fights of Jiri Prochazka Vs. Aleksandar Rakic, Calvin Kattar Vs. Aljamain Sterling and Bo Nickal Vs. Cody Brundage are all great fights, the promise of a monumental event has not yet been met.  These three fights would fit nicely on a solid PPV main card but fans are still left waiting for a breath-taking announcement for the upcoming UFC 300 card. 

The event is still some time away, taking place on April 14 in Las Vegas, Nevada, but fans expectations will be high heading into it. 

Ariel Helwani discusses UFC 300 card options

With McGregor’s return being delayed for so long, thee was rumour that it would was because him Against Michael Chandler was being saved for UFC 300. This is not the case however, McGregor will instead come back on June 29. 

With no obvious mega-fight out there to headline the 300 card, Helwani would discuss the situation on The MMA Hour and would question the UFC’s choice.

“Remember, I told you a long time ago I don’t feel like they want him on 300 because they feel like they can get their big number just by 300 alone, just by that number alone,” Helwani said. “Stack the deck with as many big fights as possible, and then you get them later on down the line International Fight Week, whatever it is, and you get two bites at that million buy apple, so to speak. I personally think it’s a little bit of a mistake given the landscape right now, given who’s available, given the big names fighting 298, 299, 297, I don’t see the big fight out there.” (H/T MiddleEasy)

Helwani would also list several other notable names that the UFC have recently relied on to sell PPVs, but none are available

“I asked around about Izzy, I don’t think he’ll be on there,” Helwani continued. “There’s some talk about Izzy-Pereira, I don’t think that’s gonna happen, maybe that changes. There’s some talk about Masvidal, right? Masvidal, he came out and said, ‘Unretired.’ Masvidal’s not on that card.”

“There was some talk about Nate Diaz, Diaz isn’t on that card. His future plans don’t include the UFC, and in particular 300.”

Do you agree with Ariel Helwani? 

Ariel Helwani Claims Ngannou-Fury Fight Brought in Over 400,000 Buys Worldwide: ‘You’re ignoring all these numbers’

Ariel HelwaniRenowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani is disputing recent reports that Francis Ngannou’s professional boxing debut against Tyson Fury in…

Ariel Helwani

Renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani is disputing recent reports that Francis Ngannou’s professional boxing debut against Tyson Fury in Riyadh bombed.

Since walking away from an offer that would have made him the highest-paid heavyweight in UFC history, Francis Ngannou has been continuously doubted. Fans and even some of his peers thought he was foolish for turning down Dana White’s offer. Many claimed he “fumbled the bag” after turning down massive deals with the BKFC and ONE Championship.

Even after signing a ground-breaking deal with the Professional Fighters League and bagging a big-money fight with Fury, ‘The Predator’ was still the subject of significant criticism.

Now, the boo-birds have a new narrative, reporting that Ngannou’s critically acclaimed performance against ‘The Gypsy King’ only brought in 67,000 pay-per-view buys. Everywhere you turn, that number, which was first reported by Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer, seems to be all anyone wants to talk about.

However, Ariel Helwani says that’s only one small piece of the puzzle.

During Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, Helwani reiterated that the numbers being reported by Meltzer only include purchases of the event on ESPN+ and through U.S. cable and satellite providers, completely ignoring how the event did around the world.

“The new thing is that [Ngannou] bombed on pay-per-view,” Helwani began. “Let me explain a couple of things to you because there’s a lot of new people to the fight game. Number one; the A-side was Tyson Fury so if anyone is to be blamed, it’s Tyson, and he should not be blamed. I believe the way they announced it. Having it on Saturday afternoon… All these things are factors, but that doesn’t even matter because I see a lot of people posting this 67,000 number and using that as some sort of gotcha moment.

“That number that you keep seeing parrotted around isn’t the entire actual number, and I can’t believe I even have to sit here and explain this to all of you,” Helwani continued. “Again, the guy who was never even arguing in favor of the pay-per-view or not. It’s ESPN+ and U.S. numbers. That’s what that number is from Dave Meltzer who’s been doing this for a very long time.

“My sources tell me it’s a little bit above that, but let’s just say it’s nowhere above 100,000. That’s the ESPN+ on Saturday afternoon and American pay-per-view numbers. Completely ignoring the fact that it also on TNT Sports Box Office, aka the network formerly known as BT Sport, in the U.K. where Tyson is his biggest draw. That’s where he has the most drawing power. Ignoring that… Ignoring the Canada number, which I don’t think is a massive one, and ignoring the DAZN number which is everywhere, but the U.S., the U.K., and Ireland. You’re ignoring all these numbers.”

Ariel Helwani Offers His Global Estimate for Fury vs. Ngannou

So what exactly are those numbers? According to Helwani, the total number of pay-per-view buys is, at minimum, 400,000, but is likely to be significantly higher once all the receipts roll in.”

“Those numbers are still not 100 percent, but I can tell you with great certainty right now, and I’m being extremely conservative when I say this, the number you should be throwing in my face isn’t 67,000. It’s not even 100,000. The number you should be throwing in my face is 400,000, and I feel very confident it will be above that,” Helwani said.

“That’s at its base. 400k. You’re not seeing that number parrotted around and that’s fine. You might be saying, ‘400k? That’s nothing compared to what the UFC does.’ Okay, maybe, but that would also make it the highest-selling pay-per-view involving an MMA fighter in an event not promoted by the UFC.

Obviously [Conor] McGregor and [Floyd] Mayweather did way more, but it was also promoted by the UFC.”

Ariel Helwani Reignites Rivalry with MMA Manager Ali Abdelaziz on Social Media: ‘At Least I Can Get On a Plane’

Ariel HelwaniIt’s safe to say there is no long lost between renowned combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani and Dominance MMA…

Ariel Helwani

It’s safe to say there is no long lost between renowned combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani and Dominance MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz.

Over the last couple of years, Helwani and Abdelaziz have traded jabs with one another on social media. Recently, Abdelaziz went after Helwani after The MMA Hour host claimed in a post on Saturday that UFC lightweight champion Islam Makahchev, who Abdelaziz represents, would headline UFC 297 in January against former 155-pound champion Charles Oliveira.

“The current plan – though not finalized just yet – is to have Islam Makhachev x Charles Oliveira 2 – headline UFC 297,” Helwani wrote on X. “That event, while not officially announced yet, is currently slated to Jan. 20 in Toronto. The original plan for that main was Volkanovski x Topuria, but now the plan is for that to be on the February PPV. Raquel Pennington x Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant 135 title also scheduled for that January card, as reported yesterday.”

Abdelaziz quickly sought to debunk Ariel Helwani’s scoop writing, “Fake news @MAKHACHEVMMA fighting Charles Oliveira in January.”

He then followed that up with another post attacking Ariel Helwani head on. “Guys, please don’t listen to people can’t even get credentials to UFC events fake news bitch,” Abdelaziz added.

It didn’t take long for Ariel Helwani to snap back at Abdelaziz, nothing the embattled MMA manager’s travel ban issues.

In March, it was reported that Abdelaziz no longer allowed to travel outside of the United States without notifying authorities due to being dropped as an NYPD informant in the past. Born in Egypt, Abdelaziz has established himself as one of the sports most prominent managers with a client list that includes Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje, Kayla Harrison, and Islam Makhachev.

In 2002, Abdelaziz was imprisioned for document forgery. While locked up, he was recruited by the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence to work undercover within a Virginia-based arm of a group called Muslims of America. Abdelaziz became one of agency’s highest-paid informants at the time, reportedly earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.

Ariel Helwani Recounts Physical Altercation with Albedlaziz at UFC Event

This is far from the first time that Ariel Helwani and Ali Abdelaziz have traded jabs with one another. UFC 271 nearly saw the two combat sports personalities trade blows for real after walking by one another backstage. The initial altercation began when Helwani previously stated that Leon Edwards was more deserving of a shot at then-champion Kamaru Usman than Gilbert Burns. It was a statement that Abdelaziz took offense to as he also manages Burns.

“He said, ‘Leave my fighters name out of your f*ckin’ mouth,’” Helwani said of his physical encounter with Abdelaziz during an episode of The MMA Hour. “And I said— do you remember what I said? ‘And what? What are you gonna do about it?’ I had a backpack, I dropped it down, and I said, ‘Please come over here and tell me what you’re gonna do about it? And what?’ Like, there has to be an ‘and’, right?”

Abdelaziz has since banned his fighters from appearing on The MMA Hour, the lone exception being Kayla Harrison who has appeared on the show multiple times.

Chael Sonnen Threatens to ‘Strangle’ Ariel helwani in heated debate over francis ngannou

Chael SonnenWednesday’s MMA Hour interview between host Ariel Helwani and Chael Sonnen devolved into a shouting match after the pair…

Chael Sonnen

Wednesday’s MMA Hour interview between host Ariel Helwani and Chael Sonnen devolved into a shouting match after the pair got into a heated debate while discussing Francis Ngannou’s boxing match with Tyson Fury.

Looking to get Chael Sonnen’s take on Francis Ngannou’s split decision loss to ‘The Gypsy King’ in Saudi Arabia, the subject of Ngannou’s purse for the fight quickly came up and proved to be a subject of contention between the former ESPN co-hosts.

Sonned disputed Helwani’s report that ‘The Predator’ would walk away with $10-20 million for his scrap with Tyson Fury, claiming that the event was a failure as far as pay-per-view buys. The conversation grew increasingly hostile with the two men frequently talking over one another. Things finally reached a boiling point when ‘The American Gangster’ threatened physical violence against Helwani.

“Ariel, you keep cutting me off. I don’t understand why you do that,” Sonnen said. “I would strangle you if I was there. You come and talk to me all mouthy like this?”

Chael Sonnen Abruptly Leaves the interview

After a few more minutes of going back and forth, Chael Sonnen abruptly exited the interview leaving Helwani to wonder whether or not the tiff was legit.

Later in the episode, Helwani revealed that he had received a text message from Sonnen, but declined to read it on air, leaving everyone to wonder where their relationship stands.

This is far from the first time that Sonnen and Helwani have gone toe-to-toe over mixed martial arts. It was a regular occurrence during their time as co-hosts on ESPN’s Ariel and The Bad Guy.

You can watch the full MMA Hour interview between Sonnen and Helwani below:

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.