Prominent MMA journalist Ariel Helwani recently launched his highly anticipated The Ariel Helwani Show on Oct. 14. The new show is part of Helwani’s media venture Uncrowned in partnership with Yahoo Sports.
Helwani, known for his insightful interviews and hard-hitting commentary, started the show with a lineup featuring combat sports superstars like Francis Ngannou, Sean O’Malley, Michael Chandler, and Tom Aspinall. Interestingly, Helwani's return to the forefront of MMA media caught the attention of Kourtney Kardashian’s husband, Travis Barker.
The famed drummer of Blink-182 and combat sports enthusiast took to social media to express his excitement about Helwani’s new platform. He reacted with a clap emoji to an Instagram post by Helwani revealing details of the show.
Check out Travis Barker's reaction below:
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With The Ariel Helwani Show airing live on YouTube and Uncrowned, MMA, boxing, and wrestling fans now have a comprehensive hub for all things combat sports. Helwani, who has always dreamed of owning and leading his content, described this new venture as a milestone in his career.
The show will run four times a week, alongside other MMA-focused programs like The Craic with Petesy Carroll. Fans can catch new episodes of The Ariel Helwani Show live every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Francis Ngannou discusses the UFC heavyweight landscape with Ariel Helwani
Francis Ngannou recently joined the Ariel Helwani Show ahead of his fight against Renan Ferreira on Oct.19 on the PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants card.
After Ngannou left the UFC, Jon Jones captured the vacant heavyweight throne with a quick submission victory over Ciryl Gane. However, he has been out of action due to a torn pectoral muscle.
Meanwhile, surging contender Tom Aspinall captured the interim heavyweight throne with a first-round knockout victory against Sergei Pavlovich and has already defended his title against Curtis Blaydes. While the MMA community at large was pushing for a fight between Jones and Aspinall, the UFC decided to rebook his fight against Stipe Miocic.
Speaking about the UFC heavyweight landscape, Ngannou said:
"I think the same movie has been playing out so many times. People sometimes don't just recognize the movie that they are watching… Jones can fight whomever he wants to fight. Then whatever happened is not his responsibility right? I think he was supposed to fight Stipe since last year and then he still wants to fight Stipe. Obviously, the situation of Aspinall is not great. I also understand where he's coming from but I mean can't blame anybody.”
Check out Francis Ngannou's comments below (30:00):