[serious] Does Helwani have contempt for MMA fans?

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Sean McCorkle
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I think he's the best interviewer in MMA and even among all sports reporters but on the MMA Hour, he constantly belittles MMA fans (from Twitter) calling them dumb, he will repeat the word dumb several times with a look of disgust on his face. He's really not shit talking, his body language doesn't lie, he shakes his head and sigh and repeat the word dumb, he definitely thinks we're beneath him.

I don't know if the reports are true but it's been said by people who attended the fan expo in Boston that he didn't interact with fans, is there any truth to that?

Are MMA fans on Twitter really that dumb or does Helwani just have a big ego?
 
The answer to your question is both. Twitter is the lowest common denominator, and he thinks everyone is beneath him. I used to think some of his personality was an act. The more I hear him the more I think that is actually how he really is.
 
Helwani is a great interviewer. He also gets the commercial side of the sport impressively.

But I have yet to hear him make a perceptive technical point about an actual fight, though.
 
Ego? No, I don't think so. It's a bit strange actually, when Helwani started he was actually like a real journalist. It seems like he realized the only way to make any real headway in the surging MMA industry was to appeal to the JUST BLEED fans and he became much more schlocky and antagonistic. At this point, the only way to keep his clout is to maintain the act. Most fighters don't like him or want to deal with him. He's likely well aware that in terms of journalistic integrity he's pretty much a joke.

Ariel Helwani is a bit of a microcosm for the UFC actually. He panders to the lowest common denominator and has to pretend like he doesn't to maintain the illusion of credibility.
 
I'm a big Helwani fan. I've never understood why people have a problem with him.

People say he's antagonistic or whatever, but I think that's a good thing. It makes the interviews interesting, and it's not like he every goes over the line.

And some MMA are borderline retarded. I can't even imagine the kinds of tweets he receives every day. If it's anything like the drivel on here, I'd be shaking my head and saying "Dumb." a lot too.
 
Pretty standard for 'the chosen people' to have this type of contempt for goyim.
 
The recent influx of fans in the last few years do seem to be incredibly stupid, he's just calling a spade a spade.
 
Cyantist said:
MMA fans are dumb.

We say it daily but Helwani can't?
Click to expand...

This.

Most of you are idiots and couldn't do a 1/4 of the job Helwani does.

He calls it like he sees it and if you're not new to Sherdog, there is a LOT of stupidity to see.

Only the "dumb" ones are bashing him for this.
 
Lavos said:
Ego? No, I don't think so. It's a bit strange actually, when Helwani started he was actually like a real journalist. It seems like he realized the only way to make any real headway in the surging MMA industry was to appeal to the JUST BLEED fans and he became much more schlocky and antagonistic. At this point, the only way to keep his clout is to maintain the act. Most fighters don't like him or want to deal with him. He's likely well aware that in terms of journalistic integrity he's pretty much a joke.
Ariel Helwani is a bit of a microcosm for the UFC actually. He panders to the lowest common denominator and has to pretend like he doesn't to maintain the illusion of credibility.
Click to expand...
I agree with this, at least partially. He does take some things seriously, like TRT and PEDs. But for the most part, he's less of a journalist than when he started. He mostly talks about building a narrative and feuds and animosity.

His interviews are terrible as well. "Does this fight feel special to you? What does it mean to you to fight in this town? What does it mean to your family? Is it special to fight this guy? Do you hate him? Is there extra pressure because you're coming off a loss? Is there extra pressure because you're coming off several wins?"

Zzzz...

Mob69 said:
Helwani is a great interviewer. He also gets the commercial side of the sport impressively.
But I have yet to hear him make a perceptive technical point about an actual fight, though.
Click to expand...
He does some things well as an interviewer. He's good at reading and interacting with most people. His interviews have a nice flow, he knows how to time questions and when to insert the tough questions especially. But for the most part, the actual content of the questions is incredibly boring. He used to make a deal out of asking questions other reporters wouldn't ask. Not anymore.

This may be why there's some bad blood (lol) between Ariel and MMA fans. He doesn't train, he doesn't like to analyse fights technically or discuss the evolution of the sport. He's like armchair fighters on the internet who never trained and keep talking about how fighters look bad or look unbeatable, without being able to show some actual insight beyond what anyone can pick up from looking at fightmetric stats.
 
I don't think Helwani is really a fan himself (read this a couple times, got no source on hand though) and given the number of douchey, bro-fans MMA has, it seems likely that a non-fan would have little regard for fans.
 
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