MMAFighting reporter Ariel Helwani banned from UFC events for life

[Combat Talk Radio]

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani took to Twitter tonight following an incredible UFC 199 pay-per-view, stating that he and his MMAFighting.com crew had been escorted out by security prior to the main event, and stripped of their credentials.

The reason?

Helwani was the writer responsible for breaking the news that Brock Lesnar was close to signing a deal to fight at next month’s UFC 200 event; a breaking news report that has now been confirmed and made official.

It is unfortunate we will no longer get to see Ariel own Dana's inconsistency and petty decision making at pressers.

[Eff Pandas]

Damn. I know Ariel cried last night when he got home like that dude when Deebo stole his bike.

Although **** man when you are that close to a company & you get so many huge opportunities because of said company you need to check on **** like that before you break the story & make sure its all good. This ain't like doing investigative reporting type ****. You need your sources & access to fighters forever. MMAFighting bout to be the #1 source for Bellator & Rizin breaking news.

[SalvaDominicano]

MMAFighting bout to be the #1 source for Bellator & Rizin breaking news.

Hahahahaha! I couldn't help but laugh at this..

[baya]

damn ariel, you ***d up, son.

[Anthony342]

If the story he broke turned out to be true, what's the problem here?

[-Swizzy-]

It is unfortunate we will no longer get to see Ariel own Dana's inconsistency and petty decision making at pressers.

Realistically its not that big a deal. 99% of Ariel's mma work is outside actual UFC events. He doesn't actually have to go to the shows to do his work. He still has the MMA hour and he still has his sources. and on the up side, he won't be absent from The MMA Beat anymore.lol

[Eff Pandas]

Realistically its not that big a deal. 99% of Ariel's mma work is outside actual UFC events. He doesn't actually have to go to the shows to do his work. He still has the MMA hour and he still has his sources. and on the up side, he won't be absent from The MMA Beat anymore.lol

Not getting those pre & post fight interviews & announcement pressers, which I'd assume will be casualties of this ban, is huge doe. And if the UFC won't allow UFC guys to go on MMA Hour he's effectively out of business or restructuring what he does at the very least. He's legit like the Howard Cosell of MMA media. This is bad for him if it sticks or if there are implications beyond attending events.

The MMA hour is today ain't it? Anyone know if his lineup still has UFC guys in it?

[hayZ]

I remember he got into trouble a while back, rumors were that it had something to do with him covering some Bellator events whilst working for FOX at the same time.

He also got fired from FOX for breaking some UFC news before them.

He now gets banned from UFC events after breaking the Lesnar news before the trailer.

The MMAFighting cameraman and the woman who takes all the cool MMA pics for them also got banned.

Ariel doesn't have to be at the events to do his job, the other two do. It'll be interesting to see how far the UFC go with the ban. If they get Josh Gross'd then it will be a big problem as Ariel can't cover the UFC at all. If he can't attend events, it's not a HUGE issue. He doesn't cover every event from an on the ground perspective.

He has the MMA hour, the MMA beat, his sources for breaking news will still be there. Still a host for the biggest MMA-related shows. Most MMA media won't do anything because they are scared the same will happen to them.

[jaded]

If the story he broke turned out to be true, what's the problem here?

That's what I thought and the only thing I can think of is that USADA testing only begins when a fight is announced...but I'm not saying he uses PED's or anything. I'm not even sure that the UFC uses USADA for testing.

[Eff Pandas]

That's what I thought and the only thing I can think of is that USADA testing only begins when a fight is announced...but I'm not saying he uses PED's or anything. I'm not even sure that the UFC uses USADA for testing.

LOL, but **** man maybe that could have something to do with it to some degree. I think mainly doe this is simply about Ariel getting preferred status in a lot of ways with the UFC & then breaking huge news with this Lesnar thing that they'd have liked to break themselves.