Tag: Ariel Helwani

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.

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).