Ariel Helwani has chimed in on Dana White’s New Years’ Eve altercation with his wife.
Over the weekend, the UFC president was in Cabo, Mexico, alongside his wife, Anna. In a video caught by TMZ, White was slapped by his wife in the midst of an argument. He then slapped her several times, prompting onlookers to break up the incident.
Following the incident, both White, and his wife, released statements apologizing for the event. They both noted that it was the first time any sort of incident between them had occurred. Furthermore, White and his wife added that the situation was caused by heavy amounts of alcohol.
Since that time, several fighters and fans have reacted to the incident. Names such as Jamahal Hill have come forward defending his boss, stating that his wife played a big role in the incident. Others have attacked White, stating the incident was domestic violence.
Now, Ariel Helwani has reacted to the situation involving Dana White. The longtime host of The MMA Hour, and one of the best journalists in MMA, he’s been a long-time enemy of the promoter. On his long-running podcast, Helwani threw a question at White, and it has to do with how his children will view him after the incident. The promoter previously asked the same question of the journalist after UFC 199 in 2016.
“As I said, it’s been way too personal, and it’s reached levels, I never thought in a million years it would reach,” stated Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I’ve debated in my mind over the last few days if I would go to a certain place. I am not going to go to a certain place, I’m not going to go to a certain place because this ultimately isn’t about me. And, I don’t want it to be about me. I want it to be about the sport, and who is leading this sport, and who is involved in this sport, and the way in which people ultimately view this sport. So, I’m not going to go to a certain place.”
He continued, “But, I will say this: Of all the things Dana White has said about me, all the lies, all the insults, all the bulls*it, all the nonsense, all the mean, vitriolic, disgusting things he has said about me… Of all the things he’s said, there’s only been one that has stuck with me…That was back in 2016, that was after the UFC 199 incident, it was a couple of days after the unbanning. Dana was on UFC filtered with [Jim] Norton and [Matt] Serra, he was saying I was throwing a pity party for myself… In the interview, he was making fun of the fact that when I spoke about it on this show, I got very emotional.”
“…In the interview with those guys, they were talking about me crying. He said something to the effect of, “I looked like a wuss, and your kids are going to see that”… I could not believe he would go to that level. He would talk about my family, that has stuck with me since 2016… I have never forgotten it. So, on this day, I will raise the same freaking question that he raised about me in 2016.”
He concluded, “What’re your kids going to say about you? What’re you’re kids going to say about your legacy? The way you treat fighters, the way you treat people. About your business practices? What are your kids going to say about that video? What’re your kids going to say about the kind of person you are? What’re your kids going to say about you? Ask yourself that f*cking question.”
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