Nick Piccone
We mentioned earlier how UFC banned Ariel Helwani for life Saturday night during the UFC 199 pay-per-view. The most likely scenario was because he broke Brock Lesnar’s UFC return and the main event of UFC 202 [McGregor vs. Diaz II] and Helwani confirmed as much Monday on The Dan Patrick Show.
Helwani told Patrick after he broke the UFC 202 main event, a UFC public relations person approached him and said he “jumped the gun” on his story. Helwani then said when the main event for UFC 199 was set to begin, another public relations person approached him and said Dana White wanted to speak to him backstage. Helwani wanted to wait until after the main event, but a second public relations person approached him and said he had to go to the back to speak to White.
White told him to “go cover Bellator” and that he was “too negative” and UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta made the call to ban him. Another public relations person told him he should have had the “professional courtesy” to run it by them before reporting anything – which isn’t required in journalism. Had Helwani done that, UFC would hold the power of reporting over him so they can control the narrative.
It doesn’t work that way. So, UFC did what they thought they needed to do. I can disagree with them all day long about how they handled it, but they didn’t do anything illegal. But it’s scary to think any one of these sports leagues can do the same thing if they really wanted to*. And that’s not good.
Listen to Helwani discuss it below.
*I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.
UPDATE: TMZ caught up with the UFC president, and White explained that Helwani can still cover events by buying a ticket, but he won’t have a media credential again.
Helwani had said he was told he was banned for life. A UFC rep explained the organization was upset Helwani didn’t call for comment before publishing the news.
We asked White about the “ban” — and he explained, “He can cover all the events he wants, he just can’t have a credential.”
When asked specifically if he would be allowed to attend UFC 200 if he bought a ticket, White replied, “Yes.”
We also asked if the ban was really a life sentence, and White told us, “As long as I’m here.”