Media Pimblett Goes off on Helwani in Interview with Dana White (UPDATE: Helwani Responds).

LOL at Dana "Wooh! I just had to let that go, couldn't interrupt!"

Paddy is smart as fuck!

Conor is all drugged up, incoherent and not relevant. This kid is angling for bigger opportunities and he will do so by buttering up Dana. When Dana had to give Ariel his credentials back, Conor was happy that Dana took an L. From there, it started a rift between Dana and Conor. Paddy can be the new Conor and maybe a first Paddy.
 
And if Ariel never existed would the sport be smaller today, because of that coverage?

"Ariel Helwani is who got me into watching MMA," - Absolutely no one, ever.

I reckon the regular drumbeat of interesting interviews Ariel has done with fighters has helped a lot of people to 'get into' and stay into MMA.

Much more than that tho the sport as whole suffers badly from the lack of critical coverage which questions the narratives which Dana and the UFC overlay onto everything. Real mainstream sports are subject to scrutiny via coverage which enables them to evolve and produces better outcomes for athletes and fans.

From that POV I view Ariel's contributions, and those of other similar guys to be pretty essential. Ariel can be a bit annoying in one way or another but he 100% meets the criteria of someone who has been important to the growth of the sport.
 
Seems that a lot of Ariel's issues stem from managers getting involved. Paddy seemed cool with Ariel until manager got involved and planted the ridiculous idea that fighters should be paid for interviews.
 
I reckon the regular drumbeat of interesting interviews Ariel has done with fighters has helped a lot of people to 'get into' and stay into MMA.

....because of the fighters. Not because of Ariel's interview skills.

Much more than that tho the sport as whole suffers badly from the lack of critical coverage which questions the narratives which Dana and the UFC overlay onto everything. Real mainstream sports are subject to scrutiny via coverage which enables them to evolve and produces better outcomes for athletes and fans.

Agreed, but an average sports journalist would have been better in Ariel's place.

From that POV I view Ariel's contributions, and those of other similar guys to be pretty essential.

<BidenShutIt>

'Essential' to MMA's growth from 2002 to 2022?

Like the sport wouldn't be the sport it is today without Ariel?
 
....because of the fighters. Not because of Ariel's interview skills.


Agreed, but an average sports journalist would have been better in Ariel's place.



<BidenShutIt>

'Essential' to MMA's growth from 2002 to 2022?

Like the sport wouldn't be the sport it is today without Ariel?
If it wasn't Ariel, it'd be someone else. People act like Ariel is some brilliant journalist and does something irreplicable by others. He asks the same generic questions anyone else does.
 
....because of the fighters. Not because of Ariel's interview skills.



Agreed, but an average sports journalist would have been better in Ariel's place.

If it wasn't Ariel, it'd be someone else. People act like Ariel is some brilliant journalist and does something irreplicable by others. He asks the same generic questions anyone else does.

This is all utter bullshit. Very few journalists would even think about doing stuff like this, let alone actually pull it off.



Ariel actually has the balls to go past the regurgitated stupid questions almost every other reporter asks.

Regardless of what people think, he's actually quite good. He also builds an actual rapport with fighters and has done so much shit over the years that everyone has either forgotten or never knew about. There's a reason why most of the older fighters appreciate him.
 
Im with Ariel


Imagine sitting across from Dana White and cutting a promo about how Ariel Helwani exploits fighters.

It just boggles the mind.

Hope that being a company man works out for Paddy in the way that it hasn't for anybody else.
 
He's under the influence of his manager, Graham Boylan. Boylan planted this bad seed in Paddy's head. One day Paddy will realize this, sort of like Diego eventually broke free of Joshua Fabia's spell.
I still think that was a mistake. I still go to sleep many nights envisioning those dreamy eyes chasing me around my house with a knife.
 
Paddy is a Dana shill and Ariel shills to get interviews...

pot meet kettle.
Who does Ariel shill to? It certainly isn't the UFC. Fighters go on his show because he has a huge audience. "Shills to get interviews", lol. Did you read that before you hit "post reply" and still decided to post it?
 
Having watched everything I'm on Ariel's side.

However I do think he has overreacted to Paddy's manager asking for money.

What it seems like happened is Paddy was planning on doing Ariel's show in New York, and in the meantime his manager got him a bunch of paid interviews around that time that filled up the schedule, and was probably in Paddy's ear "we should start charging for all interviews, if we can get x to pay for your time then we can get others to pay for your time also". For a fighter who isn't rich he cares about financial security, it makes complete sense for him to prioritise paid work over unpaid work. Paddy doesn't care about journalistic ethics, he's trying to feed himself and his family and you can't blame him for that.

They also weren't asking Ariel for money personally, they're asking a multi billion pound company in BT for money.

Ariel should have just said "sorry, it's against my journalistic standards to pay for interviews. No worries if your schedule is too busy".

Instead he's made a big deal about how he's offended someone would even ask when he could have just accepted Paddy had better offers elsewhere and moved on.

You can't really defend Paddy's rant though, the points he makes doesn't make any sense. Of course Ariel gets paid to do his show, it's meant to give content for the fans to watch which in turn raises player's profiles and gives them a better connection with the fans, and in turn Ariel gets paid for hosting. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement, if a fighter thinks that he doesn't gain anything from giving an interview then he can just not give an interview. No one is forcing them on the show. He was also clearly trying to get in Dana's good books.
 
....because of the fighters. Not because of Ariel's interview skills.



Agreed, but an average sports journalist would have been better in Ariel's place.



<BidenShutIt>

'Essential' to MMA's growth from 2002 to 2022?

Like the sport wouldn't be the sport it is today without Ariel?

I'm not sure why you want to use that specififc metric as the argument for whether the guy has any value here or not but even still - yes it is my opinion that the sport as whole would be worse off without the contributions of anyone and everyone who has dared to offer up a critical lens to Dana and the UFC - that group includes Ariel and hes a not insignificant player in it.

Also its a side point but an engaging interview requires an interesting subject and a good interviewer - I'm not putting Ariel on some insane pedal or saying he's the greatest to ever do it but he is no doubt a good interviewer who gets moments and lines from his subjects which make those exchanges worth watching,
 
If it wasn't Ariel, it'd be someone else.

Yeah, someone more competent and not a jackass that purposefully asks antagonistic questions.



Or when he leaked Lesnar's fight at UFC200... total dick move.

He's been a bottomfeeder of the sport, not an asset.
He asks the same generic questions anyone else does.

Yeah, which is why he's so unremarkable in every way. No insightfulness.
 
Ariel had been working in MMA for years before Paddy had his first pro fight. There was almost no coverage of MMA in those early years, so him producing content with genuine passion for the sport was rare and valuable. He has been a value add to the sport.
 
Holy shit Ariel ended them.

He still didn’t address not paying fighters for interviews though, which was a valid point.
 
Seems that a lot of Ariel's issues stem from managers getting involved. Paddy seemed cool with Ariel until manager got involved and planted the ridiculous idea that fighters should be paid for interviews.
If these fighters aren't earning much money, and they're having dozens of requests for interviews and podcasts every week - if you can ask them to pay for the time and a certain percentage of them will pay for an interview - why wouldn't they try to get paid?

It's supply and demand, if there's companies willing to pay for interviews then it's just smart to charge them, these fighters have mouths to feed. If they're unable to get anyone to pay, then they'll have to do them for free or not do them at all. But as long as there's some companies who will pay then it's worth asking the question.

That's not to say companies should be expected to pay, it's completely up to them. It's also completely up to the fighters if they want to do them for free or insist on payment.

I don't think Ariel is wrong for refusing to pay, and I don't think Paddy is wrong for prioritising interviews where he gets paid over those who won't pay.

What's wrong is the overreaction of Ariel to someone asking multi billion pound company BT to pay, and then Paddy's overreaction in this rant and abuse he sent Ariel by text.
 
lol imagine any other industry sad enough where a worker makes a podcast of out them blowing their boss

MMA is pathetic
 
Back
Top