Ariel Helwani Buries Paddy Pimblett and Dana White With Extensive Clap Back on the MMA Hour
Mia Horton The mixed martial arts spectrum on social media erupted last night courtesy of UFC President Dana White and rising UFC lightweight prospect Paddy Pimblett. Fighter remuneration has long been an ongoing issue within martial arts. For a sport that has witnessed a tremendous revolution in global reach, the UFC still pays its athletes about 10 cents on the dollar from their revenue.
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These athletes, in spite of their stardom and patronage, are compensated a shell of what they’re worth. This includes media appearances, fight night pays etc.
This brings us to the nuclear bomb that was dropped on renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani. Helwani has been a long-standing member of the martial arts community for his role in helping bring the sport to the spotlight, despite the norm surrounding him.
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Given Dana White’s history with Helwani, it’s no surprise that the UFC President lashed out at him. However, the surprising aspect about the subject was Pimblett’s perspective of Helwani, which he divulged, and needless to say, the ‘Baddy’ pulled no punches.
Nonetheless, Helwani being Helwani pulled the receipts he had saved up, and for good reason.
Ariel Helwani reverts to Dana White and Paddy Pimblett
Late last night, excerpts from Pimblett’s podcasts with Dana White made the rounds all over the internet, and for good reason. The pair reveled in their mutual dislike and to a certain extent, hatred for Helwani, berating the journalist.
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Pimblett stated-
“I hate all these journalists. Especially the ones that earn off us. Like Ariel Helwani in particular, like he loves earning money off fighters. Like every decent job he’s had, he’s been sacked from. And now he’s just a biased content creator. And he has the audacity to hate on you, hate on the UFC, and now hate on me as well. You’re doing it to put money in your own pocket Ariel, you little rodent.”
Dana White concurred, and said-
“Yea 100%…Woo I just sat back and let that go, didn’t want to interrupt. He’s a massive sack of s*** is what he is. He’s the biggest f******* piece of s*** of all time.”
Ariel Helwani who has not once remained silent in the face of controversy, fired back at the duo in a half-hour message. He played a voice note of Pimblett asking to come on to his show for an interview.
Helwani’s disclosure of the exact approach used by Pimblett to gather an interview with him discredits every single word stated by Paddy Pimblett.
Ariel Helwani responded and said-
“October 27th. That’s Paddy Pimblett sending me a voice note saying ‘hey I’m gonna be in NewYork if you wanna do something’. I didn’t reach out to him. I didn’t ask him.”
Ariel Helwani for the better part of his UFC career now has provided a platform for UFC fighters to sound off on their opinion, and promote and market themselves.
The message and podcast by Paddy Pimblett are now overlooked by his remarks on Ariel Helwani for which he certainly isn’t right.
Also read: UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou Recalls Exact Moment His Beef With Dana White Began
About time there emerged a level playing field
For the better part of the 21st century, UFC fighters and martial artists, in general, have been vocal about their indecent pay which sparsely enables them to make a livelihood of it.
Considering that these individuals are professional athletes, it’s comical that they are forced to resort to such means to enhance their valuation in the eyes of their promoters.
MMA media has certainly enhanced its responsibilities exponentially and has provided these athletes with a platform to make a name for themselves.
It goes without saying that not every appearance would be a paid gig, but the topic in question is to bring yourself into the limelight whereby the audience is gushed over you. There needs to be a level playing field established in our sport regarding this matter.
While one assumes journalists make money out of these fighter appearances, which is true to the bone, it also helps establish the athlete in question and assists them in paving their way to the top.
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