Media Buckley to Ariel: When fighters come on your show, you try to use us as weapons against the UFC with your platform, setting us up with questions

[markg171]

K.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Quite the self portrait, mark.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Questions for Plato why people care about what the only meaningful organization does.

Ah yes, here is the self proclaimed 'fan of the sport' shitting on every non-UFC org.

You're not a fan of a sport, you're a fan of a company. You're less a fan of MMA than every one of us and even moreso than you pretend Ariel isn't

 

[markg171]

Ah yes, here is the self proclaimed 'fan of the sport' shitting on every non-UFC org.

You're not a fan of a sport, you're a fan of a company. You're less a fan of MMA than every one of us and even moreso than you pretend Ariel isn't

I bet you also love KHL hockey, EuroLeague Basketball, CFL football, etc. eh?

God bless you man for having all that time and good will to watch all the minor leagues. Someone's gotta make that sacrifice.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Ah yes, here is the self proclaimed 'fan of the sport' shitting on every non-UFC org.

You're not a fan of a sport, you're a fan of a company. You're less a fan of MMA than every one of us and even moreso than you pretend Ariel isn't

We shall refer to mark as Forrest the UFC shill going forward, lol.

 

[jx820]

There's no legitimate interest in what Ariel does. He himself doesn't give a shit about MMA. He just wants the stories and clicks because nobody else is covering MMA so he gets the monopoly on it instead of not being able to break into other sports he actually gives a shit about.

Again, Ariel himself literally said this:



There's a reason why 18 years into "covering" MMA Ariel has never been able to break down or analyze ANY fight. He legitimate has no idea about MMA and has no interest in learning anything from even a casual observing standpoint as he should've gotten too just from being at thousands of events. He literally could not tell you a basic barebones break down of any matchup he's "covering".

Ariel is only here to get or create the story that makes him the most money.

The quote you provided doesn't say what you think it says.

I'd agree he's not a play-by-play guy.

He and his peers bill him as a journalist. I don't know that everything he does is journalism but certainly some of what he does fits the mold. With that in mind he doesn't have to love, participate in, make betting line picks, or do color commentary for the sport any more than Anna Wolfe has to run for office, work and finance and start a PAC to cover political corruption.

I'd agree that he enjoys the drama more than I think a journalist should, and he's far too comfortable being part of the story himself. But that doesn't mean he's wrong for asking difficult questions, pushing back on bullshit answers, asking question that cause conflicts etc...

He works for his audience not the fighters or the promotions. If he thinks fighter pay, or corruption, or the Muhammad Ali act is of interest to his audience he owes it to them to ask and he owes Buckley nothing.

 

[StonedLemur]

MMA fans are used to John Morgan, Ariel asking a champ if he was fine with earning lesa than CM Punk was instigating and a sneak move, trying to get the fighter in trouble etc.

I thought she handled it with respect tbf sir.
John Morgan is an awful example of a "journalist" honestly.
Ariel is Ariel, he asks some good, some not so good questions...but he usually has a point.

 

[StonedLemur]

My biggest issue with him is that he doesn't really care about fighters. He just cares about himself.

Hes done more for fighters than 90% of the fans tbh sir.

 

[chinarice]

So as long as it appears “ tough question” you can be a retard about it? It’s got to also make sense at the same time.

How is Ariel Helwani being a retard, exactly? I'd love to hear this one. I expect it to be something ridiculous. It ALWAYS is.

 

[chinarice]

Ariel is very stereotypical

Stereotypical what?

Oooo I can't wait for this one

I want to see if you're the one that will actually admit the reason they don't like Ariel, unlike many here who make up reasons instead of saying the real reason.

 

[Patof]

The fighters are so whipped by the promotion that they get mad that a reporter asks them questions about their boss's terrible practices. Yikes.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Ariel is a TMZ anchor moonlighting as an MMA authority. No functional knowledge or analysis, just drama and hot takes that a lot of people praise as "journalism."

 

[Prologue]

Imagine if we still had Bloodstaine Lane and not Ariel. Even if he's playing a character, it would be insufferable.

Zuffa Zombie confirmed

 

[666]

My vote for next guest:

 

[chinarice]

My vote for next guest:

Dude is nearly 70 years old. I'm sure he's not protecting kayfabe in 2024, fella.

Kayfabe has been basically dead for 25+ years.

 

[markg171]

The quote you provided doesn't say what you think it says.

I'd agree he's not a play-by-play guy.

He and his peers bill him as a journalist. I don't know that everything he does is journalism but certainly some of what he does fits the mold. With that in mind he doesn't have to love, participate in, make betting line picks, or do color commentary for the sport any more than Anna Wolfe has to run for office, work and finance and start a PAC to cover political corruption.

I'd agree that he enjoys the drama more than I think a journalist should, and he's far too comfortable being part of the story himself. But that doesn't mean he's wrong for asking difficult questions, pushing back on bullshit answers, asking question that cause conflicts etc...

He works for his audience not the fighters or the promotions. If he thinks fighter pay, or corruption, or the Muhammad Ali act is of interest to his audience he owes it to them to ask and he owes Buckley nothing.

After 18 years in the sport I don't exactly think it's too much to ask for Ariel to have a basic understanding of the sport to be able to look at say Max/Justin and be able to wonder and think about how Max, a guy who doesn't check leg kicks, is going to deal with Justin, who's known for his leg kicks.

You will never hear this kinda stuff from Ariel though because he

1) knows nothing about MMA and doesn't realize it's an interesting issue for the matchup
2) knows that doesn't get him more clicks so wouldn't ask it anyways if he did

Instead Ariel is going to ask them something like about the BMF belt and Max's comments that he wants Mark Coleman to wrap the belt around the winner's waist. There's a story and angle there he can "sell" beyond the matchup of two guys fighting, I don't know why we'd pretend he's not looking for one like so many people on here are trying to.

Ariel's not a straight laced reporter and journalist. That's fine, but it's why so many have called him and his fans out for pretending otherwise.

 

[markg171]

Stereotypical what?

Oooo I can't wait for this one

I want to see if you're the one that will actually admit the reason they don't like Ariel, unlike many here who make up reasons instead of saying the real reason.

You mean like when Khabib said he doesn't like Ariel and Ariel said he's just trying to unite the Jews and Muslims here?

Is that what you're getting at?

 

[666]

Dude is nearly 70 years old. I'm sure he's not protecting kayfabe in 2024, fella.

Kayfabe has been basically dead for 25+ years.

I don't get the reference. I watched during the Hulk Hogan ripping shirt off era.

Him being 70 would just make it better when he slaps Ariel. Not sure what point your trying to make.

 

[Steve Fox]

Hes done more for fighters than 90% of the fans tbh sir.

I don't know if I agree. Fans equal money. Ariel is part of the industry as his success is only possible because fans exist. I don't know what he did for fighters, at the end of the day, there's always some type of drama surrounding him. I think everything that is negative and speculative is a headline for him, never saw anything positive in tone coming out of his podcast, always negative and he will use whatever he can to create buzz. Without the fans there would be no Ariel.

 

[markg171]

I don't know if I agree. Fans equal money. Ariel is part of the industry as his success is only possible because fans exist. I don't know what what he did for fighters. I think everything is a headline for him and he will use whatever he can to create buzz. Without the fans there would be no Ariel.

Ariel was making $500K salary and the best he could do for these fighters was a shitty Youtube show