MMA journalist banned from UFC for reporting on UFC.
Actually sounds like a WWE storyline, ffs.
Actually sounds like a WWE storyline, ffs.
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- Thread starter Fortitude
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All this depends on what you think the UFC is. Are they the Premier League / NBA or are they a private company that aims for high ratings and ppv buys?
Of course they are the latter. Their matchmaker is a friend of the fecking owners who awards matches to whoever makes them money. Its a company that frowns upon winners who are not flashy and somewhat boring.
Would EA sports work with and give fecking press privleges to someone who leaks their every innovation or marketing ploy?
He leaks everything just before UFC make it public. Every time. He times all this for a reason. Are we to believe he only found out the minute he tweeted? Or did he wait to be a dick?
Apparently a number of reporters and outsiders knew but they kept quiet with promises of special benifits for the media circus of UFC 200 and Ariel knew about this. The UFC went to all this trouble and till the very last second its gone.
He got fired from his job at Fox for all this for breaking other news.
Shit happened with Sherdog, with Josh Gross, Dave Meltzer got into trouble with the UFC for breaking Lesnar vs Randy.. Is he stupid enough to think that there would be no repercussions by actually turning it up a notch?
Right or wrong isn't even the point imo. It is what it is and for Ariel to act like this is a grave injustice that came out of the blue doesn't hold weight with me.
Didn't think Bisping had that in him. Made all the sweeter by the fact he got it via KO, having gone through most of his career with the "pillow fist" tag.
Also, just seen this on Sherdog
Yeah same. Was pretty epic actually and I hate Brock Lesner. I can see why the UFC would be pissed. Ruined it for a lot of fans.I was lucky, I learned through the video
Also, just seen this on Sherdog
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I can see how Fox may have objected to what he did since they were his employer. In the case of Zuffa, Dana and Lorenzo aren't Ariel's bosses or managers. He's just a well known journo among many more not so well known ones who are doing their job. This wreaks of the UFC attempting to control the power structure of information around them in an environment of free journalism, which won't end well for them. In these instances, they should go after the leaker and not Ariel.
Delighted Bisping won.
Also can't understand how anyone can defend Helwani being banned. He's a journalist, not a UFC employee. AFAICS he was just doing his job. Not good for the sport if the UFC try to control the press in this way.
Also can't understand how anyone can defend Helwani being banned. He's a journalist, not a UFC employee. AFAICS he was just doing his job. Not good for the sport if the UFC try to control the press in this way.
So essentially, UFC shouldn't have media but should have a pr company?
A hybrid I suppose. Journos have enough influence, it's the same journos who decide the rankings for example.
Does mma need that much journalism? There are that many ex fighters with podcasts giving us the inside track. Hell their colour commentator has a weekly podcast where he gets drunk and high letting slip inside secrets himself.
Its a very open sport. Having one man insta tweet every bit of gossip he hears could hurt this. Again if Ariel only found this out on the night and he is able to gather this information in close quarters, why would he be allowed back?
Ariel's job is to report news. He reported news. He's now banned for life.
Do you not see the disconnect there? If Dana should be pissed off at anyone it's whoever on his side told Ariel.
Don't bother bringing up the rankings, everyone knows they're meaningless anyway.
Gonna need one of you guys to tell me which of those prelim fights was must-watch please. Having said that:
HOLY SHIT THE COUNT ACTUALLY DID IT! Add Lesnar returning (great hype video for 200) and that great match between Cruz and Faber, I'd say it was a pretty damn good night of fighting!
HOLY SHIT THE COUNT ACTUALLY DID IT! Add Lesnar returning (great hype video for 200) and that great match between Cruz and Faber, I'd say it was a pretty damn good night of fighting!
I don't really think anybody's in the wrong. Both parties will just see it as them doing what's in their best interests. He doesn't have any obligation to hold back news, while they have no obligation to let him near the company.
Of course theyre meaningless but it shows it's not all UFC demands this and that. They do have a voice.
UFC are very open to the press, the media rounds that they do are exhausting and nobody is exempt. They called off a massive fight because Conor asked for a little leeway ffs.
People trying to portray the UFC as some propaganda led Stalin state are stupidly wide off the mark.
The access that the press has is unrivalled in any other sport. If there was a massive scandal and the UFC handled the reporting this way then fair enough. This is not it. Just do not spoil the surprise.
Ariel hasn't the God given right for a privleged press pass to UFC events btw.
Again why would you let someone who is able to track down behind the scenes scoops into the event where all the major players are?
Wouldn't you make it as hard for him as Ariel makes it for the UFC?
So again, there should be no press and just a PR company. Got it.
Early prelims - Kim/Reyes (must watch)
Prelims - Miller/Caceres, Dariush/Vick, Ortega/Guida are well worth a watch too.
Hilarious watching Dana make a complete mess out of it all. This was a mere 24 hours ago.
Didn't think Bisping had that in him. Made all the sweeter by the fact he got it via KO, having gone through most of his career with the "pillow fist" tag.
Yeah same. Was pretty epic actually and I hate Brock Lesner. I can see why the UFC would be pissed. Ruined it for a lot of fans.
Also, just seen this on Sherdog
When I heard him shouting, I got goosebumps
it was a perfect build and revealCheers!
So, who you all got as Lesnar's opponent?
Likely announced tomorrow, should be fun. Hunt? Barnett? JDS? There's a few options. I'd quite like Barnett myself.
Likely announced tomorrow, should be fun. Hunt? Barnett? JDS? There's a few options. I'd quite like Barnett myself.
Fedor
I've seen a few mention him but highly doubt that as he fights on UFC Fight Pass on the 17th of this month.
If youre just going to put words in my mouth then why not..
Not like reporters fact check or reach out for comment before printing a story or anything.
Just tweet everything that is said unverified.
Id love to know what an mma journo is btw. All I see is a podcast host and occasional blogger these days.
There is 2 sides to the story to be fair. I agree a life ban is extreme (and I doubt it will be a life ban) but Ariel has been pushing his luck for a while now with the UFC I'd agree with @cyberman on that.
They are journalists and they are there to report the news but the UFC will have a valid argument that you've been brought to their event for free courtesy of them, probably enjoyed a shit load of free stuff courtesy of them whilst waiting and they asked you to wait a few hours then unfortunately some times you've got to swallow your pride and do what they ask.
The UFC are the number 1 company in their chosen field and equally are the top of the line. I doubt they'd stop fighters speaking to him or going on the MMA Hour etc but if they don't want you to leak news and you do it for the sake of furthering your career and getting more hits then good for you but they will feel well within their rights to ban you from their events as petty as it may seem.
They are journalists and they are there to report the news but the UFC will have a valid argument that you've been brought to their event for free courtesy of them, probably enjoyed a shit load of free stuff courtesy of them whilst waiting and they asked you to wait a few hours then unfortunately some times you've got to swallow your pride and do what they ask.
The UFC are the number 1 company in their chosen field and equally are the top of the line. I doubt they'd stop fighters speaking to him or going on the MMA Hour etc but if they don't want you to leak news and you do it for the sake of furthering your career and getting more hits then good for you but they will feel well within their rights to ban you from their events as petty as it may seem.
That's an extremely short-sighted view to take though given that Helwani does more to promote the UFC and their sport than any other journalist.
There's also a certain amount of context to this given that Helwani was recently fired from that Fox job, apparently for highlighting free agency as much as for giving announcing the McGregor v Diaz fight. Helwani says that White told him he was too "negative" when telling him to leave, which in this case means he didn't fall into line with what the UFC wants, even though acting independently is exactly what a credible sports journalist is supposed to do.
It's a bad sign for the sport and the company if the most prominent journalists can be banned simply for breaking fight news. If that's the way the UFC treat journalists for such a basic part of their job then can you imagine how they'd react to harder hitting stories?
Yeah I agree, I've said similar in this thread but there is 2 sides to the story. My point is I can see why the UFC would be annoyed, in their mind they've had arguably their biggest ever announcement ruined. If Helwani wants to break that story that's fine and again I've said that in this thread but you can't expect people to not be pissed off by it. It's not just a UFC thing either I reckon most companies would react quite badly to that kind of thing happening.
It is short sighted but it's a pretty valid point. Despite the fact he's had fallings out recently with the UFC he's still given these privileges that most people could only dream of and they obviously didn't want the story leaking but he did it anyway. Lets be realistic here. Why would the UFC want someone like that around? He's stealing their thunder on every single announcement they're not going to welcome the guy with open arms it just doesn't make sense.
Helwani never stood a chance in his last job I'm sorry but that just doesn't work. You can't be a journalist breaking news on UFC related stuff and then go in to their offices on the Monday to work for them and take their pay cheque. It is a massive conflict of interest. It would be like United employing Oliver Holt as a director of football then letting him work for the Mail still and he breaks all our transfer news. There's 0 logic in it and 1 of his jobs had to go. I'm sure he was aware of that as well. UFC originally did try and get him to do their job years ago and stop his reporting stuff but he didn't want to as well so it's not like he wasn't given notice of this and it came out the blue.
Again, I agree it's a shame and very petty. I just can see why they'd be pissed off though. I think this was more of an icing on the cake than they're treating it as an isolated incident...he was in the press conference asking questions a couple of days before and was also in the Mighty Mouse Q&A the day before the fight. I imagine the UFC top brass just got sick of it all to be honest, he must of broken nearly every big fight before they announce them since he got sacked.
Hahaha what?!! Is there any context to this?
Oh, I totally get why they wouldn't want him around alright. Just as I can see why Ed Woodward would have been pissed at the likes of Ogden, Taylor, Ducker and whoever else wrote several pieces that directly criticized him. You still have to deal with the media in a vaguely legitimate way though.
It reflects very badly on the sport, especially as it's not like the UFC's behavior here is totally atypical for them:
Ariel uses his podcast on Wednesday's to break the stories and talking points that UFC tonight have lined up that night. That is calculated and petty.
Are we to believe he didn't wait as long as he could so he could spoil the news rather than rushing out to report it as a journalist? Really?
He sits on the leaked matchups and tweets them out minutes before the offical announcement. That is calculated and petty.
Fighters have criticised him for unnecessarily stirring the pot between fighters, editorilising their thoughts to suit his agenda and narrative.
He projects himself into the fight interviews, last time we met you said you would knock me out etc then proceed to ask the smarmiest questions and plead out that hes a journalist doing his job.
Calling fighters out on twitter, saying he hopes Cro Cop loses 3 times in a row and gets knocked out because he's a disgrace to the sport.
Im ranting a bit here but I picture all this when people cry that he's this elite journalist with all these values and virtues towards his job. One week claiming you dont need fight experience to be a journlist, that you can learn from the best and develop an eye for it then the very next week roasting a judge because he cant know what he's seeing if he never fought before.
It's all very self serving.
Are we to believe he didn't wait as long as he could so he could spoil the news rather than rushing out to report it as a journalist? Really?
He sits on the leaked matchups and tweets them out minutes before the offical announcement. That is calculated and petty.
Fighters have criticised him for unnecessarily stirring the pot between fighters, editorilising their thoughts to suit his agenda and narrative.
He projects himself into the fight interviews, last time we met you said you would knock me out etc then proceed to ask the smarmiest questions and plead out that hes a journalist doing his job.
Calling fighters out on twitter, saying he hopes Cro Cop loses 3 times in a row and gets knocked out because he's a disgrace to the sport.
Im ranting a bit here but I picture all this when people cry that he's this elite journalist with all these values and virtues towards his job. One week claiming you dont need fight experience to be a journlist, that you can learn from the best and develop an eye for it then the very next week roasting a judge because he cant know what he's seeing if he never fought before.
It's all very self serving.
Again though there's 2 sides to the story. I'm not pretending the UFC is blameless in all this I'm sure they are dicks to deal with a lot of the time. They've created something so big that they can do that thought rightly or wrongly.
I don't know why all them journalists were banned and some will be petty as feck but people like Loretta Hunt only had themselves to blame really. She accused UFC of not allowing the managers of the fighters into the locker room and then said she can't reveal her source cos he was "terrified" of the UFC or something. This wasn't the case at all, the fighters got a certain amount of passes and most chose not to give 1 to their manager. Equally her story made the UFC look like a bunch of bullies intimidating people when the reality is in that case they'd done nothing wrong.
I think journalists often get a sense of entitlement to be honest. Not in the case of Helwani at all but considering they're all for opinions a lot of them don't half throw a tantrum when things don't go their way. I really do think the UFC have gone over the top with this but the fact all journalists seem to think the UFC were 100% irrational and they have no right to be pissed off just seems a bit weird. Course they're going to be annoyed it's their biggest story ever and they didn't get the chance to reveal it.
The whole thing is petty I agree. What's a shame really iso ne of the best cards we've seen has been overshadowed by this at the moment as well, hopefully it is resolved. I think the UFC needs a review on their media and how they handle it but at the same time I think people lik Helwani need to make their mind up what they want to be cos I can't see UFC budging on stuff like this.
I legitimately thought that UFC 200 trailer was awesome. It's amazing they got they added touch on the event with Brock.....GSP would of been sweet, but Brock is like what? But the Jones-DC II fight, yeah, they are hyping it amazingly, forget the undercard. Still doubt it gets what they initially wanted....clearly Ronda and Conor together = obscene numbers. But they've done well to put it there while having both Conor and Ronda returns later down the line.
Looks like they want CM Punks only loss on the Conor/Nate undercard too, massive numbers there then. Odds it outdoes 200?
Looks like they want CM Punks only loss on the Conor/Nate undercard too, massive numbers there then. Odds it outdoes 200?
It's all a work, Dana White vs Ariel Helwini will the main event for UFC 200. You it heard it here first.
I agree with this.
Dana White is a petulant prick for the way he has handled this but a lot of MMA journalists, and I'd include Hewani in this, think they are in the Zuffa inner circle because they have been a part of the latest growth spurt of the sport. You only have to watch MMA Beat to hear Ariel and Luke Thomas go on and on about how to best utilise Ronda and Conors star power to sell the most PPV's, when they should be pushing for the sport to stay honest.
Anyway, I'd side with Dana on this. The UFC had been able to keep this a secret for the last couple of months and had everyone expecting a GSP return. They've spent $10m on PR and wanted to do a big reveal on the last PPV card before 200. Hewani knew the news was about to break and made sure he got his report out early to feck with the UFC.
The fans who didn't see Ariel's scoop, like me, enjoyed the surprise so he gets no sympathy from me for ruining it for a lot of others.
You hardly expect him to hold off on a scoop just to avoid "spoiling" news on the fans? Since when do we expect journalists follow the GOT spoiler policy?
Well no, that's why I'd say sod him. No one else broke the news and if taking away his press credentials stops further 'in show surprises', then so be it.
I imagine it would have created a hell of lot more buzz if the news broke via the promo than Ariel's website. The UFC seemed to have gone to great lengths to keep Brock secret and Ariel has come along and just watered down the hype. Dana has every right to be pissed.
Hewani's leaked news before and pissed off the UFC. He knew what he was doing but did it anyway. Now, like Conor, he'll be trying to strong arm Dana and the UFC over twitter.
feck all this Helwani stuff Dominick Cruz should be in the P4P conversations. Love watching him fight.
Well no, that's why I'd say sod him. No one else broke the news and if taking away his press credentials stops further 'in show surprises', then so be it.
I imagine it would have created a hell of lot more buzz if the news broke via the promo than Ariel's website. The UFC seemed to have gone to great lengths to keep Brock secret and Ariel has come along and just watered down the hype. Dana has every right to be pissed.
Hewani's leaked news before and pissed off the UFC. He knew what he was doing but did it anyway. Now, like Conor, he'll be trying to strong arm Dana and the UFC over twitter.
No one else did it because he likely got the info first, as he regularly does.
What you're complaining about is essentially the basis of sports journalism. Might as well complain about having the Ibrahimovic transfer spoiled on us. As someone said about cyberman earlier, what you're actually looking for is UFC PR.
He's class. Must be a nightmare to figure out how to fight him.
What would people say if Ariel tweeted the winners of TUF weeks before it aired?
Isn't he just reporting the news then?
Isn't he just reporting the news then?
Yeah put on a clinic against Faber and did the job vs. Dillashaw. Would like to see a TJ vs. Cruz rematch as was close but now he's got over the ring rust (which he doesn't believe exists to be fair!) I think he'd win more convincingly.
Lesnar is facing Hunt apparently, just announced.
Well no, that's why I'd say sod him. No one else broke the news and if taking away his press credentials stops further 'in show surprises', then so be it.
I imagine it would have created a hell of lot more buzz if the news broke via the promo than Ariel's website. The UFC seemed to have gone to great lengths to keep Brock secret and Ariel has come along and just watered down the hype. Dana has every right to be pissed.
Hewani's leaked news before and pissed off the UFC. He knew what he was doing but did it anyway. Now, like Conor, he'll be trying to strong arm Dana and the UFC over twitter.
Journalists routinely break news. What makes this so different ?