Ariel Helwani has been on the wrong side of a handful of fighters during his time covering the sport. This time, he’s the topic of conversation between Paddy Pimblett and UFC president Dana White.
Helwani has covered the sport of mixed martial arts magnificently for over ten years. The MMA journalist has provided an excellent platform for fighters to promote themselves and express their personality to a wider audience. Although the majority of the fighters appreciate the impact, Helwani has had in the sport in terms of coverage. Some don’t buy his legitimacy.
It’s well documented that White and Helwani don’t see eye-to-eye, with both men firing shots at one another at any given opportunity. White was happy to indulge in a slandering rant of the Canadian journalist, alongside one-half of the UFC 282 co-main event, Pimblett.
On his own podcast, Chattin Pony, Pimblett tagged Helwani a “maggot” and a “rodent” and believed that Helwani used fighters for his own financial gain.
Paddy Pimblett slams Ariel Helwani ahead of UFC 282
“I hate all these journalists, especially the ones what earn off us. Ariel Helwani, in particular, loves earning money off fighters. Every decent job he’s had, he’s been sacked from. And now he’s just a bias content creator,” Pimblett said, with the agreement of White. “He hates on you, hates on the UFC, and he even hates on me now. It proper annoys me.
“He uses fighters for clicks, uses fighters to make money, and then has the audacity to talk about the UFC and yourself, saying that they don’t pay the fighters enough. Get your dough out Ariel,” Pimblett continued.
Quotes via MMA News
Pimblett followed his belief up by stating an incident that happened in the past with Helwani. The 40-year-old attempted to get Pimblett to cancel a scheduled paid interview he had booked and instead be interviewed by Helwani for BT Sports. Helwani then later took to his show to voice his annoyance at Pimblett’s manager Graham Boylan.
Watch Pimblett and White’s rant below:
https://twitter.com/LewisGloverMMA/status/1600449751107121152
Pimblett is set to compete this Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 282 against Jared Gordon in the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.
The Liverpudlian aims to move to (4-0 UFC) after dispatching of Luigi Vendramini, Rodrigo Vargas, and Jordan Leavitt thus far in his career with the company.
What do you make of the comments made by Paddy Pimblett directed at Ariel Helwani?