Dana White Blasts ‘Dirty’ Ariel Helwani For ‘Crying On Camera’
A few weeks have passed since the now infamous UFC 199 scenario regarding well-known mixed martial arts journalist Ariel Helwani. To sum up the situation, Helwani and two of his colleagues were essentially kicked out of the arena after Helwani broke the news of Brock Lesnar’s UFC 200 return before the promotion could do so themselves.
Helwani and company had their credentials removed and the UFC had issued a lifetime ban against the reporter. UFC President Dana White had even went as far to say that Helwani would have to buy a ticket if he planned on attending the blockbuster July 9th card from Las Vegas.
Needless to say, Helwani went on his show, The MMA Hour, and detailed not only this specific situation, but his rocky history with the UFC as well in a dark and emotional segment. Not so long after, his lifetime ban was lifted and his credentials were reinstated.
Since then, the situation has appeared to have been put to rest, although White clearly hasn’t forgotten about it. Recently appearing on the inaugural edition of the UFC Unfiltered Podcast with Jim Norton and Matt Serra, White blasted Helwani, saying that the journalist threw a ‘pity party’:
“I know that he threw a big pity party for himself and all that sh*t, but there was a lot more to it. A lot more people were involved in that thing, and it almost blew up a huge relationship that I wouldn’t even get into publicly. That’s why we just came out with a statement, and I don’t know, it was dirty. He knows it was dirty, and he threw a big pity party for himself, crying on camera and sh*t. Just ridiculous.” White said.
Despite the harsh comments, White admitted that he’s done a tremendous amount to boost Helwani’s career over the years, a statement that Helwani has also confirmed on multiple occasions:
“Ariel Helwani knows I’ve done a lot of s–t for Ariel Helwani,” added White when speaking on the podcast.
In the end, although his credentials were reinstated, Helwani doesn’t appear to be the UFC President’s favorite person:
“Well, he got his credential back I wouldn’t say he’s in decent graces. We built that promo, and a lot of people were quiet about it. It was for the fans, and for that wow factor to be there, and go oh wow Brock’s back, and the way that he the way that he did it had a lot of people pointing fingers at each other.”
The brash and outspoken UFC boss also called Helwani’s actions a ‘weasel move’, and claimed that he had made it ‘all about Ariel’.
What do you make of White’s comments?
