Why isn't the MMA Hour on ESPN or something?

SpedDaddyV

SpedDaddyV

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I can't stand Ariel Helwani, but he gets all of the guests you want to hear from at the perfect time. Controversial and big stars. All of the soundbites from his interviews end up in every sports publication despite the MMA hour only getting like 20-30K viewers on youtube.

So why doesn't he start a legitimate show?
 
This is why:

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The limited number of viewers on YouTube is a good indication why. MMA just isn't mainstream enough to have a talk show on ESPN.
 
Ariel has been trying to get on TV for years, he did have a brief stint as a UFC correspondent for Fox but his weaselness got him canned. If he's not getting any TV time it's not for lack of trying, it's just that everyone behind the scenes know he's an instigating weasel and don't want to hire him. Fighters and managers know he's got a big drama show going on as far as YouTube MMA shows are concerned and use his platform to bring attention to themselves, that's about it.

Ariel has one foot out of MMA anyway. He went to Lomachenko's fight on Saturday instead of covering UFC 224, and he no longer travels to UFC events unless if it's a big PPV.
 
Shows like MMA Hour and JRE are great because they are not on TV. No ads, no time limits. Let's keep it that way. No need for a change.
 
LouisBolanos said:
Ariel has been trying to get on TV for years, he did have a brief stint as a UFC correspondent for Fox but his weaselness got him canned. If he's not getting any TV time it's not for lack of trying, it's just that everyone behind the scenes know he's an instigating weasel and don't want to hire him. Fighters and managers know he's got a big drama show going on and use his platform to bring attention to themselves, that's about it.
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it's odd. I was on my lunch break and on saw on ESPN all you see is how awful Raquel's corner and portrayed how graphic it was

yet Ariel will actually have Raquel on his show today... amongst Liddell, Alvarez, Poirier, Dern, the black guy who is Jon Jones without wrestling (Israel or something), Chael Sonnen

he gets MMA equivalent of A-Listers at the time they have buzz
 
SpedDaddyV said:
it's odd. I was on my lunch break and on saw on ESPN all you see is how awful Raquel's corner and portrayed how graphic it was

yet Ariel will actually have Raquel on his show today... amongst Liddell, Alvarez, Poirier, Dern, the black guy who is Jon Jones without wrestling (Israel or something), Chael Sonnen

he gets MMA equivalent of A-Listers at the time they have buzz
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If ESPN wanted Raquel they would have. They probably didn't want to book a minor MMA fighter and would rather hear their own analysts talk that's all. That said, out of MMA journalists, Ariel does have the best relationship with fighters and managers, and he's also a big internet personality in the MMA space. His social media following is bigger than 95% of the fighters out there, so fighters love his platform. Executives at Fox and ESPN though probably see him as too much of a troublemaker to be worthwhile. On top of that he's now a married family man and his wife operates a jewelry store in NYC, I doubt he'll uproot his family and move to Bristol, Connecticut or wherever else ESPN tapes their shows.
 
SpedDaddyV said:
I can't stand Ariel Helwani, but he gets all of the guests you want to hear from at the perfect time. Controversial and big stars. All of the soundbites from his interviews end up in every sports publication despite the MMA hour only getting like 20-30K viewers on youtube.

So why doesn't he start a legitimate show?
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he not on espn cause espn radio doesn't put on his show duh.
 
That should would not be great if it were only an hour long. It's grown into something beautiful now, lasting four hours plus at times.

Plus, if that show were on TV, it would severely be neutered. Fighters probably wouldn't be nearly as candid since the exposure would be substantially greater. The network would want to exert creative control and that would really hamper the show the way it is now.
 
jeicex said:
That should would not be great if it were only an hour long. It's grown into something beautiful now, lasting four hours plus at times.

Plus, if that show were on TV, it would severely be neutered. Fighters probably wouldn't be nearly as candid since the exposure would be substantially greater. The network would want to exert creative control and that would really hamper the show the way it is now.
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its 4 hours now because he will talk to a really shitty and unknown fighter about how they like to draw for 2 hours

then he will proceed to subliminally take shots at the fighter while portraying that he is on their side/their friend

last time Khabib was on he opens with "this number 1 bullsheet". CRINGE! Khabib gave him a quick dirty look
 
It goes for like 3+ hours, its not made for TV.
 
Yeah. His whiny cuckhold persona would fit in well there.
 
FrankieNYC said:
Because it isn't an hour, it is 4
With commercials it would be 6 hrs

ESPN is not giving 6hrs so MMA fans can hear interviews
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it would have to alter its show. maybe 1 hour of the legitimate stars/people they wanna hear from on mma hour, rest online.

like if it was on TV today, have Raquel, Liddell, and Porier/Alvarez or Dern
 
SpedDaddyV said:
it would have to alter its show. maybe 1 hour of the legitimate stars/people they wanna hear from on mma hour, rest online.

like if it was on TV today, have Raquel, Liddell, and Porier/Alvarez or Dern
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Then it would not be as good
What is good is all those guest get 30 minutes to speak their mind & as an MMA fan we can jump to a timestamp to hear what interest us.
TV is not good for that with live airings and 4-6 breaks per hour.

but ESPN will be covering UFC a lot more in 2019
 
SpedDaddyV said:
its 4 hours now because he will talk to a really shitty and unknown fighter about how they like to draw for 2 hours
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Yeah totally. I mean look at the guest list for today:

Chuck Liddell
Ryan Bader
Dustin Poirier
Eddie Alvarez
Chael Sonnen
Demian Maia
Israel Adesanya
Mackenzie Dern
Raquel Pennington
Total cans, right? Ok fine, let's go back a week.

Sarah Kaufman
Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Jorge Masvidal
Justin Willis
King Mo
Paul Daley
JDS
Neiman Gracie
Josh Emmett
Cody Garbrandt
I'll give you Justin Willis as lesser known, but he's 3-0 already in the UFC. Emmett just headlined. Kaufman won a belt in Invicta. Gracie is 8-0 with 7 subs.

Then let's take a look at the week prior, shall we?

Dillon Danis
Frankie Edgar
Derrick Lewis
Kenny Florian
Nick Newell
John Gotti III
Chad Mendes
Jake Shields
Floyd Mayweather's security guard talking about Floyd fighting in MMA
It's a bit less known than the others, but Dillon Danis has become a media starling, Nick Newell is finally getting his shot (and has a story), John Gotti has his name, and the security guard is everyone's inside scoop on Team Floyd. Should I go on?
 
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