Ariel Helwani Explains Exactly What Happened With Conor McGregor, UFC 303 | The MMA Hour

Ariel Helwani Explains Exactly What Happened With Conor McGregor, UFC 303 | The MMA Hour

it was a very busy weekend um as far as action was concerned there were some major events all on Saturday uh Saturday was a very very busy day if you’re a fan of multiple forms of Combat Sports uh like I am if you’re in that middle of the VIN diagram with the the the three circles um you were I mean it was busy from from pretty much like 2:00 p.m. to midnight or maybe even past midnight 12:30 it was very busy uh we started things off with the boxer card at curst Park um shout out to Ben Whitaker with the great entrance one of my favorites of the year I know the performance didn’t wow many people and there’s some talk about his power or lack thereof but he remains undefeated um and it was a great scene over there you know a soccer stadium show isn’t um isn’t easy to pull off and and maybe in retrospect they should have put it in a actual Arena because uh it was not full but uh Kudos on the effort and the uh the entrance was fantastic he came out to Over by Drake but he had like a whole freaking orchestra playing it on the violin it was incredible it was amazing by far my favorite walk out of the year so far in any combat well in MMA and and boxing wrestling is a whole other category um Chris bam Smith Richard react we had them on the show on Wednesday CBS retains his WBO cruiserweight title so you had that at the same time you had Clash at the castle in Scotland featuring The Return of CM Punky screws Drew McIntyre Damen priest retains insanely hot crowd they are on fire with these European shows and these International ples so that was happening at the same time I was at my son’s soccer tournament trying to keep up with it all then uh we moved on to UFC was happening at the same time as a Doone boxing card UFC at the Apex headlined by tatsuro Tyra against Alex Perez it ends with a Tyra win in the second round um he’s on Perez’s back uh the weight of of of Tyra on his on his back trying to bring him down um I saw some people saying you know press should have brought him up into the cage and and used that leverage to get him off or at least to alleviate some of the pressure that did not happen seemed to blow out his knee unfortunate but I I don’t view that in the same light as the say Tom aspel Curtis blade ation because that was just a freak accident this particular injury happened because of Tyra on his back now did he try to do that I don’t think so but it happened because he was you know draped all over him um so a little bit different in that regard still not the cleanest finish but Ty wins after losing the first round on the judge’s scorecard uh subriel Matias loses in Porto Rico to Liam paru big big win foru on the road this was supposed to be a huge show for matchroom and Matias doesn’t get it done at the same time of all this chel sunnon and Anderson Silva take part in uh what was closer to ballroom dancing than it was actual fighting much love to both Legends but I wish they would have told us beforeand that this was going to be like pretty much like a capera dance I’m all psyched everyone’s all locked in we’re trying to figure out how to watch this thing and all of a sudden it’s like me and my kids play fighting it’s like like them going like this like like what is going on here like the first 10 seconds are you kidding me I mean this was this was more of a work than Floyd Mayweather versus Paul White at WrestleMania I mean this was this was this was shades of of Mr T against Rody Piper at WrestleMania 2 I had no idea that I I actually thought it was going to be a real fight an exhibition but a real fight this was not a real fight but God bless I hope they got paid a lot and it seems like CH really wants the J mazal fight and I suspect that would be real um so let’s see but uh it was great and the good news is it ended in a draw so CH still undefeated and Undisputed and then it ended with tank Davis knocking Frank Martin out into another dimension with a vicious uh left hand in the eighth started off very slow and then uh got it done and he predicted it he predicted that he would win in the eighth and he got it done so tank Davis is back let’s see where he goes from here that was all on Saturday that was all between the hours of like 2 p.m and and 12:30 a.m. eastern time so it was a very very busy Saturday but of course everything really happened on Thursday and so let us talk about Thursday oh by the way before I get to Thursday during the day um we had the pfl event on Thursday night which was um the one that Dakota cha W on and then even this morning uh we got a uh a breaking news tweet if you will from Desa himself essentially what it’s I mean it seemed like he was announcing the uh the GDP fight in Perth August 16th here in America 17th in Australia with a great poster and a great tweet I do believe we have it uh I liked it yeah stole the shine never lost mine look at this it’s great stuff I think more Fighters should announce their fights now the UFC hasn’t officially announced it this seems to be the worst kept secret um in in in in MMA in the sport I like this taking things into his own hands I would read that but I I can’t see it it’s too far you know who put that together for us oh there it is yeah know I still can’t see it should I read it to you yeah go ahead the sun of Africa is the same Sun that lights up on our planet no you added an in it just lights up our planet somebody was talking how how would you know if you can’t see it they put the sun will set and will rise again until you walk into it the sun enjoy while it shines Darkness Falls when it’s gone you like that yeah it’s very uh it feels good on the tongue yeah you should try it no I like it I like it I like that he made the gloves uh gold yeah shout out see that um one one thing of critique though yeah the never is so white and the background is just a little offwhite at at certain angles I can’t see anything of the an EV and I was like is he saying evil interesting wow that’s weird that was my two sons no I think it’s cool I dig it um by the way I mentioned uh Rick’s back the gang’s all here but uh we are missing one member of the gang uh he is uh he is now joining us from the uh the peach state he is uh the man who put the G in GC is he act there he is wow yeah now it’s really here now I’m actually boots on the ground in in Georgia wow what is it like it’s great man it got up to 98 Degrees uh on Saturday it’s hot it’s you wearing short sleeve shirts too yeah I mean I always wear short sleeve shirts true still got the pants on though despite me being home it’s uh you know pants no shoes though no shoes just put just put the pigs out on air should not have uh should not have done that but yeah no shoes I I like the fact that there’s uh no shoes on right now but uh no socks as well is what’s interesting yeah yeah yeah that’s what I was saying yeah yeah yeah put the put the toes out on air that’s I got I gotta charge for that people pay good money for that yeah that’s what I’m saying I gotta start charging for it but yeah I mean it’s nice it’s nice um and uh like what are The Vibes what are The Vibes a lot of peaches what do we yeah yeah peaches everywhere dude that’s that’s how it got its name my parents have a couple peach trees in their backyard every street I drive on is is called Peach Tree Street uh yeah I mean it’s great it’s living up to its name and and as far as the Vibes of Team Canada coming to town on Thursday what are they yeah we can’t wait we can’t wait a lot of Canadians down here no no love at all for Argentina can feel the upset coming uh yeah I mean it’s it’s a no-brainer I’ll be there Mercedes-Benz Stadium suppor are you g be there supporting the maple leaes if I uh maybe if I buy you a ticket will you be there in full Canadian regalia uh I will wear a full denim tuxedo let’s check the uh let’s check the weather for Thursday uh high of 94 on Thursday no it’s indoors yeah but I still got to get to the stadium you you gotta walk out in that sun I mean the Sun stays up till like nine o’clock here it feels like I’m in a different country it’s great love it love it all right well the connection is good we’re all good uh oh yeah I mean the Internet is just zooming here should should have been doing this the whole time you know yeah no no no you can just stay there no need to ever come back could we get a shot at uh could we get a shot at Connor’s chair oh man oh okay we don’t have it you see they they unplugged your camera they unplugged your camera yeah I I saw taking down the decorations earlier it’s it’s it’s as if I’m not even there I put anom over there in I want to stretch out I’m gonna improve this setup it’s it’s gonna uh it’s gonna feel like I’m right at home even though I mean I actually am at home right now yes yes um all right well we look forward to that um and it is good to have everyone sort of back on the program so let us talk about Thursday actually you know what let’s talk about Wednesday let’s talk about Wednesday let’s talk about me coming on the show and uh and giving you sort of the last string of updates but there were more to come on Thursday regarding UFC 303 and you know now that I think about it a little more let’s actually start on the Monday after 301 let’s do this the right way whoops as I knock over my Canadian flag let’s do this the right way so UFC 302 happens I think I said 303 there 302 happens on June 1st in New York I’m going to tell you everything now I’m going to tell you everything now because there were a lot of people that um wanted to claim that we didn’t know what we were talking about and this isn’t going to be a a Victory lap if you will but there are a few things that we need to discuss as it pertains to this massive piece of news so it happens on Saturday 3:2 wake up Sunday get a text around 10: a.m. told that the press conference in Dublin scheduled for the next day June 3rd 5:00 pm local time 12: Eastern Time is very much in doubt that they are considering canceling it interesting start poking around and there seems to be some Merit to this find out that Michael Chandler hasn’t left he was on route to leaving he was on route to going to the airport but he had not left yet and uh he was standing by him and his team a couple hours later find out they are not going the whole thing’s been called off so obviously that seems significant they had distributed around 10,000 tickets this was a big deal three Arena Connor’s first press conference back in Dublin since 2015 Aldo fight start to ask around as to why this is being cancelled there could be a Litany of reasons as to why this is being cancelled and I find out that he sustained an injury about 12 to 15 hours prior now when I was told this from very good sources they said when you talk about this the injury part is off the Record why is it off the Record because we’re expecting to fight the fight wasn’t off we’re expecting to fight on June 29th we don’t want the news out there that he is hurt because we know that you know if the opponent finds out about this he is going to Target it as he should fair game we’re also coming off a very serious leg injury um there’s there’s enough so we don’t want this out there have to respect that I talked about this on Wednesday and there was a reason I talked about it on Wednesday because I knew eventually this was going to come out I wanted to understand excuse me I wanted all of you to understand why that detail was not being reported um this is different than the NBA like when Chris apps porzingis gets injured the team has to put out the information they have to put out the injury his status Etc it’s not the same in the fight game no one has to put out anything it’s completely different set of rules so I come on the show on Monday now the um the press conference has been cancelled and I talk about the fact that it wasn’t a legal issue it wasn’t a contract issue it wasn’t a drugs or alcohol issue it wasn’t a u a personal issue I went through the whole list the one thing I didn’t say was injury I tried to to to serve it up for you guys alied it even DJ came on and he’s like you didn’t mention in I was like no no no no no if you go back to that I was like I didn’t say all that you’re saying I said and I repeated this over and over again now to be fair a lot of people did you know pick up what I was saying but a lot of people didn’t oh so basically you know nothing oh really you have to listen I try to to dance around this as much as possible now in a perfect world I don’t have to do that but when you’re told something off the Record you have to respect that because at that point while there was anxiety while there was trepidation while there was some doubt about the the injury and how it would affect the actual fight on June 29th The Hope was that he would remain and just kind of get through it and so I mentioned on that show that like a little bit of you know a little bit of fear but there’s hope during the show he tweeted and what did I say when he tweeted what did I say no mention of June 29th that to me was the first red flag or maybe the second the first being the press conference has been cancelled no mention of June 29th he said can’t wait to see you know for you all to see me back in the Octagon if he was 1,000% in at that point he would have said on June 29th there was no mention to that all right so we stay on the story on Tuesday I tweet that feelers are being sent out for replacement now the issue was there weren’t a ton of options the best option off the bat back then we’re talking two Tuesdays ago was yri puska against Alex pra too that’s the first time that they reached out to those guys to his credit Yuri was in off the Jump despite the short notice Alex is coming off two injured toes two broken toes and was in Australia on a bit of like a seminar SL media tour vacation he was in Australia so the initial feeling was the timing just isn’t great here now they had reached out to uh DDP that could have been a thing but Yuri and Alex was a fight that was talked about for Perth as was DDP versus Izzy never really reached out to Sean Strickland to fight a DDP or Izzy DDP didn’t make a lot of sense I know Alex volkanovski raised his hand I was told that uh he he said he would be willing to fight someone I know they sent out a feeler to Max Holloway about a potential BMF fight he’s on vacation not available it’s tough so they were throwing out these feelers just hoping to have something on standby in case everything took a left turn and he was really out by Wednesday and really by Tuesday night but I said it on Wednesday show there was great optimism like I said and and they were feeling like all systems were a go they they said this to Chandler they said this to his team Conor’s team felt the same everyone felt like this would be manageable he would get well he would overcome it and he’d be able to fight on June 29th now I can understand why maybe some fans or some newer fans would be like what’s this up and down stuff going on how could it be like maybe off and then fers and then he’s in what’s going on well hopefully now you understand when there’s an injury involved there’s good days and bad days you know I’m uh I’m a I’m a I’m a huge basketball fan and ogan anobi had a a groin issue and then one day it’s like oh he’s looking good and then he’s not looking good and then he’s gonna give it a go and then he’s not going to give it a go and then he actually plays and he can can’t you know you can’t move that’s the body that’s sports that’s how this goes and so now you understand why there was talk of okay we’re feeling good we’re not feeling good we’re feeling good that wasn’t me speculating that wasn’t me making [ __ ] up that was me talking to people in the know same people I’ve been talking to my entire career the same way I have been talking to people my entire career develop sources develop relationships people pick up the phone that’s how this works that is called journalism I know foreign Concept in today’s day and age where everyone just has a say on things and make [ __ ] up but I don’t like to talk about things unless I talk to the people in the know and so that’s what I was doing and on Wednesday they were feeling good you’ll recall later on in the week Michael Chandler did a sit down interview with the pivot now he’s talking about the the the bullet that has been dodged he’s feeling better about things he’s talking about the fight you recall on the Louisville card last weekend they’re promoting it there’s a there’s a video package everyone’s feeling good even at one point Connor posts a picture of him on a on a like a doctor’s table you can tell I thought that point people will kind of see what was up um I was told that Hunter Campbell flew over to Dublin to check on him I was told Heather Linden who is the uh the head of the pi who’s very well respected by all the fighters and camps and managers she flew out as well to try to help everyone was trying to do everything in their power to salvage this to do everything in their power to keep Connor on the card he wanted to stay on the card the UFC wanted him to stay on the card obviously Chandler wanted him to stay on the card start everyone wanted this to remain the same and everyone was happy with the way it was being dealt with the updates being shared with the TLC like no one from what I’m hearing feels like they were slighted feels like they were disrespected feels like they weren’t giving the attention that they deserve they just did everything in their power I know the fans wanted updates no one was providing updates and and and and please this is not me giving myself a pat on the back but just picture world where I’m not coming on this show or tweeting about updates there was literally nothing zero and people are getting mad at me they’re being told that I’m being given bad info they’re telling you that they’re telling Their audience that that I’m being given bad info that I’m being played how could you know anything who do you know and look I get that I get the fact that you know there’s a lot of new fans some fans who weren’t watching the sport when I was at ESPN when I was hosting this show before going to events I get that and I don’t break news as much as I did before because I don’t want to because it’s not fun it is just an awful way to live your life now when there’s a big story like this when it’s a when it’s a rebound just bouncing on the ground and no one’s picking up the ball all right you know I’ll I’ll come out of retirement so to speak when there’s big stories and this was the biggest story of the year so far it’s just the way I’m wired I I want to inform the public I want to let people know what’s up what good are these relationships and contacts if you don’t use them at some point and these people know that I will never out them that I will never disrespect them that I will never betray their trust till the day I die and so I was trying my best and every time I would do it people would be like so basically you don’t have no idea so basically you’re making [ __ ] up so basically there’s no update and I’m like racking my brain I’m like what what Universe are we living here where these updates which I thought were valuable um are just you know being received as nothing in any event um you know come Monday still feeling good still feeling good but then Tuesday morning I straight up hear that the fight is off now I start poking around and I’m told that a decision hasn’t been made yet and they’re still feeling things out but at this point it’s like they’re fullon looking for a replacement and like I said there weren’t a ton of options and they went back to perea and perea’s like H I don’t know you know again Australia the toes so by the time I get to the show on Wednesday and I tell you that I don’t think it’s happening and that there’s pessimism and that it’s on at one point I used life support at one point I used limbo like that was the truth it was not looking good no one was feeling positive about this the same positivity that was in the air a week ago was nowhere to be found it’s exactly what I said again making [ __ ] up making [ __ ] up making [ __ ] up speculating speculating speculating and uh come Thursday morning Wednesday night I checked back in on Pereira and I was told still long shot and I’m just racking my brain like I don’t know what they’re going to do Holloway can’t do it they didn’t reach out to Olivera DDP is not doing it like I was dying to know what the rabbit in the Hat was they always kind of figure these things out canceling the event wasn’t an option they didn’t want to cancel an international fight week event and there the Hall of Fame and there’s the um the X Expo like they didn’t want ufcx they didn’t want to do this so they did everything in their power I can’t imagine what Hunter Campbell’s life was like and it was so interesting that that UFC fight Inc doc series came out on Roku right before all this like really popped off because I think that now he’s starting to get the respect and attention and um you know admiration that he deserves because he he’s essentially the GM if we’re going to equate this as I said on the show maybe a year or two ago if we’re going to equate this to a sports team he’s the guy making the deal he’s the guy you know he’s the head of fight operations if you will he’s the guy who has to be on the front lines and then report back to the bosses namely Dana like this is what’s going on it it used to be Dana in the mix there Joe Silva as well there’s kind of a like a hierarchy like in terms of like the really really big fights it’s Hunter Dana very rarely gets involved in that stuff and then the lower fights it’s Mick and sea and they’ll do big fights too but like you saw him with Jon Jones this particular fight like it’s all him and everyone that I talk to say they love working with him he’s not emotional he’s not disrespectful you know are there moments where it gets tense and negotiations sure but uh everyone seems to really enjoy it and so by Wednesday night of last week I heard that like still nothing and I’m I’m like what how is this going to play out by Thursday though I’m told perea’s in and Yuri was in the whole time I’m told perea’s in holy smokes but again as is the case these days please don’t report it it’s off the Record so I got to keep this in my back pocket because uh to me ultimately like the relationships mean more having the guys on the show doing this show like this is this is my baby this is my bread and butter you know the breaking something is is cool and all but if they don’t if this is not WJ in the NBA this is not shefer in football it doesn’t work that way the big bosses say let us break it ourselves now I would argue that they don’t do a great job of breaking this news it’s a two-minute video and like I don’t understand what the big deal is but alas I digress um you know the funny thing is about the 199 thing like how many times have they made video announcements like that before didn’t know that was going to happen and how many times have they done it since but they say this these guys are getting paid I totally there’s not a a moment where I even like argue or try to get it no I totally understand like I to me having the relationships getting the guys on the show that’s more important and you could call that whatever you want but that’s more important to me this is how I make a living doing this not putting stuff out on Twitter but I tried in the process to let you all know everything that was happening and let you all know everything that I could tell you about and so by Thursday morning I hear that he’s in all right now I’m wondering like at what point they’re going to break this I also hear in the midst of all this that Jamal Hill is out knee injury oh my gosh so I hear that Anthony Smith who by the way raised his hand to fight Alex on short notice gets booked for the elberg fight and then I hear that elberg is considering waiting for Hill but then I hear that Hill is going to be out for quite a bit and so alberg takes the fight so that comain event went from Khalil rry to Khalil rry against uh Jamal Hill to to alberg Hill to now alberg Smith and then I find out that’s no longer the co-main event and they’ve just booked Brian Ortega versus Diego Lopez in a great fight in a very fun fight out of the blue They just added a little muscle to the uh to the card and in the midst of all this stories are now coming out that Hamza chamv we end up finding out is violently ill is out of the Saudi Arabia debut on June 22nd this weekend and they booked rram alisov who was supposed to fight this past weekend at the at the uh the Apex he’s been now pulled from the card and moved to next week against Robert Whitaker Whitaker saying now that he had no idea who he was the likes of Bo Nichols saying uh I I was in the mountains I got a call about it it was too late by the time I responded wouldn’t that have been something Robert Whitaker against uh B Nicko but it’s Al so could you imagine what their you know what their week was like at that point so at this juncture I know that the prayer fight is on I know that uh Smith and alberg is on I I put out Ortega Lopez um and the alcara fight uh reported by an Australian journalist named Benny p is uh is already out there so things are moving in the middle of the day my kids are off and I go to uh our like municipal pool like a local pool they’re over there hanging out with their friends so I walk over there it’s like a mile from our house hang out but I’m constantly checking my phone cuz I want to know you know when the Tweet is out in fact I’ve enlisted the help of New York Rick to let me know when the Tweet is up because as you all know I’m blocked on [Music] Twitter so it’s now around 2:30 and I like all right let me get my assets ready here let me get my info ready so on my way back to my house I film a video saying all right you just found out the news blah blah blah and I put it all out there in a three-minute video but I kept that in my back pocket I wasn’t trying to do the subtle Flex thing I didn’t know if it was coming out at 4 at 5 or at around 10:50 uh local time which is when meaning 10:50 Eastern 7:50 in Vegas which is when the news came out it’s pitch black and people were like wait a second it’s light outside that wasn’t me trying to say like hey I knew all along but I just wanted to have some more information that was better served in a Twitter video than um in a tweet type that all up and So at around 10:50 they announced that Conor McGregor is officially out that he is injured that the fight isn’t happening on June 29th that it’s now going to be Alex Pera against Yuri Pusa too that it’s going to be Brian Orga against Diego Diego Lopez that it’s going to be um Anthony Smith against Carlos elberg and there’s a new 303 card and I have to say I think they did a phenomenal job they made chicken salad out of chicken [ __ ] they really did and yes nothing will compare it to a Conor MC event the theater the drama the hoopla the buzz the hype nothing will compar to it nothing can compare to it there’s nothing in Combat Sports not just MMA not just the UFC that compares to it but Alex pra supremely popular Yuri prasa beloved you add Lopez and Ortega out of the blue the Albert Smith fight is a fun one Smith on short notice it’s not bad it’s not bad at all and so I think that they did a great job under the circumstances and what I was told was now the official the official entry hasn’t come out but I was told that it it is it is not supremely serious and they are hoping that they can rebook this for August or September latest the problem is there aren’t a lot of pay-per-view slots not going to fight in Manchester in July not going to fight in Perth in August um they don’t want it on the sphere which I think should be the move and kind of should have always been the move um in many respects like 300 in the sphere would have been amazing but alas they already have some title fights booked for that and they just don’t want it and then you got Utah in early October then you’ve got Abu Dhabi although that hasn’t been officially announced yet and then it’s MSG and Jon Jones so there has been some talk of creating a new pay-per-view date but as of right now let me just check here nothing they’re they’re kind of they’re kind of going back and forth Banning about and uh there is no date so we don’t know we don’t know that’s still very much up in the air [Music] um and so I think that all things considered they did a great job I think in a perfect world they would have announced all the 303 news with a new date for Connor um but that’s a harder thing to lock down there’s a lot more at Play Chandler is going to wait at least for now and I asked Chandler His Thoughts by the way I asked him to come on the show today and uh this is what he said on the record he said not right now but he said I’m living the dream I eat adversity for breakfast and patience for dessert what a line put that on a shirt so Chandler is is holding serve and uh and now here we are in a new 303 landscape a lot of excitement pereira’s putting out stuff Yuri’s in the freaking Lake getting ready to go he’s at the airport today drinking a beer looks to be in phenomenal shape great video merges of uh Alex officially agreeing to the fight via his YouTube channel we have the video right here this is a beautiful moment between him and his team take a look at this for let’s goe spee H Las Vegas fing I freaking love the relationship between PLO and uh and Alex I love excited they were I love the sh sh I I just how could you not love this guy and how can you not love Yuri both of them together are magic first fight was great arguably arguably a bit of a quick stoppage I don’t know who knows it’s going to be great this dude accepted a fight in Australia they flew back on Saturday and they’re going to go to Vegas in a few days um Yi’s getting ready for a title fight another crack at the belt in August takes this fight it’s a beautiful thing this is why these guys are loved and so uh and so now we we we have a new main event and everyone’s very excited about it and so let me be very clear here when all this came out I’m not happy about this I I think the UFC did a great job but we all wanted to see the Connor fight uh we’ve been waiting three years for him to come back I think everyone feels for Michael Chandler I think everyone you know feels that uh you know he he has earned this and that he deserves this and he has been very patient and I feel like uh you know it was going to be a great scene a great fight and it’s the biggest gate in UFC history and all that stuff and more by the way I I I I say the UFC hit home run can I be critical for just a quick second here quick I mean it’s been a lot of positivity and uh we do that because it’s fair and because it’s the right thing to say because it’s to me the stance that um that applies most to how they handled this but I I do wish there was some info given to the PE I’m getting asked like how do you refund what’s the status what’s the procedure like I don’t know f this is not my domain I do wish that there was some sort of language put out there for people who do want to consider it because there’s a lot of people flying in people are rank to me from Turkey they’re saying oh we’re meeting up with friends and I’m like I this is not what what do you want what do you want from me I don’t know how to do this stuff reach out to Ticket Master like I feel for the fans I really really do it’s really expensive people have been looking forward to this since he announced it December 31st and should happens injuries happen bad luck happens it’s all very crummy um but I do think that made you know chicken salad out of chicken [ __ ] so when this comes out I I I would be longying if I didn’t say I did feel somewhat Vindicated because I was baffled by the reaction over the last 10 days to my reports and I chalk it up mainly to newer fans but I also chalk it up to a degree to people out there just trying to be dicks just trying to stir the pot just trying to discredit us really mainly jealousy and and people falling for it like sheep hopefully now they realize who’s who hopefully now they realize who knows what and uh and and that’s all a thing of the past I’m not naive enough to think that like you know being being in this spot [ __ ] isn’t going to be thrown your way but I did feel some level of vindication Because by the time the announcement came I said it’s a formality you know it’s never a th% until they break it but I told you they had a new main event they had a new co-main event blah blah blah blah blah blah blah and so I expect I expect people to doubt people to criticize people to to to to throw stones people to make up [ __ ] I expect that from trolls I expect that from Twitter people I expect that from people who you know make YouTube videos in their basement who haven’t taken a shower in a in a week who know no one in the sport who just make up [ __ ] for for clicks and all that stuff I expect that that’s that’s the type of stuff that that gets by I expect that you can you can get some views off of that stance I I don’t expect that and I don’t appreciate it from people who are actually in the know from people who I have known for quite some time from people like Michael bisbing I don’t expect that from people like Michael Bisping because he should know better and I have had to sit here for a year and listen and get sent clips and get sent tweets get sent questions about Michael Bisping taking shots at me sometimes subtle not sometimes not so subtle but like really mean-spirited [ __ ] digs slights things like that and every time I’m reading on the nose almost every single week almost every single week I’m getting questions why is Bisping taking shots at you I thought you guys were friends why is he taking digs and I usually always skip through them I don’t know if I’ve ever maybe at one time I think I said one thing to Smith kind of in passing but I’ve skipped through them because I have a ton of respect for Michael bisbing the fighter I considered him a friend for many many years a lot of those guys who worked on Fox I enjoyed working with and and I felt like we had a camaraderie and I felt like we had um a kinship and when he first started doing TV I tried as best as I could to offer any type of advice and and help him out and felt like we always kind of looked out for each other we talk about each other’s families and whatnot and you know you’re sitting up there you’re watching fights you’re bonding so I didn’t understand where all this was coming from but it’s like it’s like digs it’s slights it’s little pot shots I don’t want to get into it it’s it’s not like some of my my other things with other people like I really consider Michael Bisping a friend honestly um and have too much respect and admiration for his Hall of Fame career for everything that he’s built everything that he’s done in his um in his lessers career and I’ve known him for almost 12 years now excuse me more than that what am I talking about 12 years 20 years 2006 I went to the top three finale way more than that closer to like 15 16 years but then I saw him talk about me on I think Wednesday or Thursday on his show and this really pissed me off this really pissed me off because I felt like he was taking this way too seriously way too personally and he had such vitriol such Venom such anger talking about something that has nothing to do with him doesn’t pertain to him at all it’s not a story about him it has absolutely nothing to do with him and he’s going on to show a lying about me and B speaking about me with such freaking anger I was like what the [ __ ] is this someone alerted me about this like you got to check this out and I saw it and I was like what the [ __ ] man where’s this coming from now you could say like oh should you have texted him and said what the [ __ ] yeah maybe could have texted me too the thing is Bisping and I haven’t texted since June of 2022 I checked that’s that’s not a friend we’re not we’re not that close anymore I don’t know why but but anyway in case you missed it here’s Michael bisbing talking about me on his podcast before all the news broke and uh and you tell me if he’s joking or not Ariel helwan is out there right and he’s posting and he’s tweeting a lot of the time he’s posting and tweeting like he’s an expert on everything but he knows nothing he’s putting feelers out there um if I hear of a situation I’m not doing investigative journalism trying to find out like my life depends on it and I will risk everything so I can be the one to break it you know because who gives a and it’s none of your business the the same way I would never tell Michael bisbing how to throw a left hook same way I don’t want to hear from him on what it means to be a journalist everything he said there was asinine ridiculous he has no idea what it means to be a journalist feelers to try to be in the no I never claimed to be an expert but you know what a journalist does he reaches out to sources to get information to then report back to all of you risk everything is that a shot about 199 no I’m trying to inform the public in fact I was the only one who was trying to inform the public of course you’re not an investigative journalist no one would ever confuse you with such and that’s why I called him bootlick or Bisping because I’ve been tired of the past year of him taking pot shots at me only to Curry favor with Dana White never talked about him never taken shots at him have promoted his projects like his movie like his book every time Smith comes on I talk about the Pod but at the end of the day he’s a boot licker just like Ali abdulaziz is a boot licker just like many others in this game are bootlickers they’re trying to Curry favor now there are others who are in the UFC’s good graces who don’t feel the need to take shots at me just so that Dana White could see a video and be like ah you got him good DC cha these guys we friends that’s what friends do you don’t pick a side and take shots at the other guy just so that you could be in better standing with the one who’s lining your pockets with is slap fighting gigs and you have the audacity to talk about me and the way I do business and the way that I do my work and I’ve never been wrong and you’re you’re calling it to question my work and so here are the facts number one I was right I was right about everything that I said and I was right about everything that I said because I’m a good journalist who reached out to people and was told information not because I came out there and said let me tell you how it is friends no so The Feelers that you’re talking about is me practicing journalism I know you know nothing about it very clearly but you know me well enough to know how I do business and I would actually go as far as to say that no fighter in MMA has benefited more from my desire to be in the know and to report back to you from my my quest to be the best journalist that I could be no fighter on the planet has benefited more than Michael Bisping quick story for the new fans or a quick refresher for the old fans May of 2016 Chris Weidman tells me that he’s hurt Chris Weidman tells me that he’s injured his neck that he’s not going to fight at UFC 199 June of 2016 in Englewood I catch win that they’re gonna try to book Jacare versus rockold they had a bit of a history Jacare versus rockold now I know that Michael Bisping is reaching the end of his career he’s on a bit of a run and the dream is to become a champion I reach out to him he’s filming a movie in Toronto I say look this is what’s going to happen it’s not the first time that I’ve done this but I don’t do it often you should throw your name in the Hat you should reach out to the UFC this is something that no one knows about he’s out and they’re trying to do the jacr fight throw your name out there see what happens maybe get a fight short notice shock the world two weeks later you’re the champ I’m filming a movie this and that by the way don’t take my word for it it’s in his book it’s in his document now if I didn’t know all this information if I didn’t call around and find out about Weidman and jock R and all this if I didn’t like you know try to be an investigative journalist I wouldn’t have known any of this and also if I wasn’t a good friend I wouldn’t have called him but I wanted the best for him because we’ve you know we’ve been on a journey with him and I thought he deserved it and so I reached out to him to tell him this information he throws his name in the Hat he finds out via Sports Center when Dana White announced that he’s in he calls me to see if it’s actually true it’s all in his book go read it the book that I promoted the book that I had him on to promote the book that I read him and Aunt Evans did a great job with it where’s that relationship so you benefited from my desire to be in the know from my desire to be a good journalist you benefited from it because then of course you got the fight you got the win and your life was changed forever you did all that but to then sit here and talk [ __ ] about me and say that I’m willing to risk it all I’m it’s not risking at all in what other world in what other Universe in what other sport are journalists treated this way acting like I’m speculating acting like I’m making [ __ ] up no I was right and you never even apologized and I don’t want your apology your apology means absolutely nothing to me but then you go on your show after the news comes out after you’ve been bombarded after you probably don’t like that people are calling you bootlick or Bisping or maybe now I should call you backtracking Bisping or maybe the best the best title of them all is backstabbing Bisping CU that’s what you’ve done anyway this is how he addresses it and uh just real quick off the top I I just got sent a video of Ariel haani going on a rant calling me bootlick AB Bisping and all the rest of it Jesus Christ Ariel Jesus buddy relax we’re having a laugh we’re taking the piss my God he says oh we’ve known each other for a long time we have I thought you could take a little bit of banter Ariel bloody relax my god boot licker bising I’ll have that slap fighting gig I’ve got the slap fighting gig I’m a commentator in the sport okay my God I can’t can’t remember all what he said I was I was watching it laughing my head off Jesus Christ Ariel you’re good at what you do buddy all right relax Jesus Christ anytime you insert yourself into the conversation you become a part of the conversation so therefore we’re going to have a laugh we’re going to take the piss which is what we do on this show okay we don’t sit here and cry to our microphones insult people the world about the 14 trophies anyway Ariel all the best there you go buddy all the best budy budy budy the weakest [ __ ] ever you get called out I finally respond a year after pot shots and this is what you say weak ass [ __ ] we insert myself into the story no again you don’t understand journalists report on things I don’t give a [ __ ] if if if it’s via Ariel helwani or via the MMA I’m trying to inform this audience I’m not inserting myself I’m not making it about myself I’m trying to report just like every other journalist on the planet does and you and that other guy who I’ve never seen before I have no idea who that is are talking about me being in the speculation business no it’s the journalism [ __ ] business look it up Google that [ __ ] and yes I bring up the 14 because people like you and people like Shaw back in the day and people like Patty back in the day tried to discredit me but we’re still batting 1,000 and we’re still freaking here and so yeah I don’t appreciate that and the rant that he’s talking about compare me talking about it on the ringer MMA show or me talking about it today on this show to the way he was in that clip that I show you where he’s convulsing his eye is twitching he’s convulsing he’s risking everything taking it so seriously golly what are you taking it so seriously about paring the words of Dana White willing to risk everything stay out of it mind your business it’s quite literally my business to report on this [ __ ] and and and you know what else you guys take the stuff from our show you take the clips from our show you take the talking points from our show you take the interviews from our show and you use it to create your own freaking headlines or when someone like Jamal Hill or Wen Buckley comes on my show to try to create a beef of me you can’t book him fast enough I don’t know what you guys would talk about 50% of the time if it wasn’t for the stuff on this show so do me a favor if we’re hacks if we’re losers if we’re speculators if we’re fake experts stop talking about us stop taking our footage stop taking our content stop taking our talking points our stories all that stuff don’t talk about us you talk about us a hell of a lot more than we talk about you and again I’m not trying to get into a thing with all of you but enough is enough enough is enough with the pot shots enough is enough with the fake ass [ __ ] you know exactly what my job is and you know that I do it very well so just don’t talk about me if you can’t give me credit because you’re afraid that Daddy Dana is going to take the slap fighting gigs away or the Apex gigs away just don’t say anything don’t talk about me and I thought maybe he’d come out there and be like you know what I got this one wrong you know what fair play Ariel fair play I remembered who you were he comes out and be like budy we I was just having having a piss I was just taking the laugh whatever the [ __ ] it is having a laugh taking the piss whatever the [ __ ] he was saying oh yeah of of course of course you were yeah yeah that’s that’s exactly how friends treat each other friends who haven’t talked to each other in two years weak ass [ __ ] and everyone called you out for it and you didn’t like that there were comments flooding your page saying apologize to Ariel so this is how you address it weak ass [ __ ] and I’m tired of it so just stop talking about me and remember if you will 2016 and remember who called you and remember who told you about all of that remember that when you’re out there trying to discredit me weak ass [ __ ] to come on and say ah I was just having a laugh that’s the weakest [ __ ] possible so anyway to everyone who doubted us to everyone who said we didn’t get the story right or didn’t know what we were talking about or being fed false info you know we got two words for you and for everyone who believed and everyone who had our back since day one we say thank you undefeated Undisputed number one on route to 15 and I think that’s it I think that’s all I have to say about did I miss anything Rick I think you covered that thank you Rick are you are you the guy in that clip to Bisping to me I suppose I am I I don’t I can’t say I’m uh a frequent Watcher I don’t know who that gentleman is but uh I suppose right now especially when Andy had that two box up that I am uh I am the equivalent no so here I am no you’re not you’ve been around you’ve been around the block I feel like and you would you wouldn’t dare disrespect the legend no no no I know better than that I know better than that um how do you feel um I feel great I mean I feel I feel happy that we can all move on from this situation um I feel like the UFC did a great job I feel like they they they really did pull something out of their back pocket I think they did a phenomenal job of putting together a fight on two weeks notice when it seemed insurmountable to be able to get this done um let’s be honest Alex Pera has two broken toes one that he suffered in the fight against Jamal Hill one that he suffered before and he’s in Australia and somehow they got him to take this fight it’s unbelievable I agree with you I think they did a very good job at replacing the Irreplaceable and then you got Yu like both these guys are are are cult-like figures you know what I mean both these guys are beloved to the point where I just I just feel like nothing will compare it to a Conor fight but I don’t other than a fight that that involves Max Holloway because he’s so hot right now after what he did at 300 I don’t know if anything would have been as well received of course there’s going to be people who are upset and disappointed all that but I don’t know if anything could be as well received as this particular fight I’ve seen a lot of people saying that certainly while the the stakes right the circumstance the the attention is lowered objectively as a fight I think people are more excited about this fight and so that’s the best you can hope for especially given the the difficulties and the circumstances that they were up against with how many people are booked and how many people are on the Shelf um and already kind of accounted for they did a damn good job and then what’s brilliant about it is in my opinion you book the fight and then you add the little cherry on top Brian Ortega Diego Lopez out of nowhere right like that fight wasn’t on the card out of nowhere no one’s talking about it shout out to Ortega who’s like three I think and Lopez is like 14 adds to the aura of Lopez can’t see any scenario where this is a bad fight you keep alberg on there after his great win Smith trying to go for one last run like man 303 there’s been a lot of international fight weeks that have been way worse than this one in my opinion I agree with you a hell of a lot like they really there’s really nothing that you can say in my opinion and so let’s see let’s see I if if they’re able to get Conor back in there let’s see if they’re able to um to book this in August or or September still no word just yet and by the way the biggest story of all which I didn’t address was the rebooking of Floyd Mayweather versus John Gotti thei third third thanks for watching we appreciate it very much hey if you like this video give us the old thumbs up subscribe as well you can get many more of these videos on the channel so please do that we would love you forever if you did so

Ariel Helwani recaps the busy combat sports weekend, dives deep into what happened with #ConorMcGregor’s #UFC303 injury dropout, and responds to Michael Bisping’s criticisms.

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