Hour 1 | Ariel Helwani on the Dana White Situation | 01/05/23 | The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz

Hour 1 : "Are We Cool?"
Helwani on Dana: 05:37
Renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani joins the show to discuss the recent altercation between UFC President Dana White and his wife at a New Year's Eve party. Helwani, who has extensive knowledge and experience covering the world of mixed martial arts, provides insight into the situation.
Podcast includes Weekend Observations. Weekend Observations will be a separate clip on KZbin.
Ariel Helwani on the Dana White Situation | Thursday | 01/05/23 | The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz
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#lebatardshow #lebatard #thepirateship #marchingbandtonowhere #lebatardlive #stugotz #danlebatard

[@djk7112]

Luke Thomas and Ariel on back to back days is pretty cool for a rabid MMA fan to see. Would love to see more frequent appearances from both.

[@ianguy420]

I haven't seen Dan since Highly Questionable. I love MMA to and it is great to see. I'll start watching Dan again. I didn't know where he was.

[@jgoat4]

the meat riding is crazyyyy!

[@dannyg2197]

They're the two worst personalities in MMA

[@gavinmitchell4477]

I know right all that MMA news we didn’t know about amazing 😂

[@tomasbereket4439]

@@ianguy420 jujuj

[@anpack20]

Ariel has always been a good dude. Luke Thomas hit the nail on the head with his response to all this as well. Bryan Campbell was pretty spot on also. I respect the hell out of all 3 of them.

[@jamineamina5429]

sure. until he gets hit by a woman and made fun of for letting her do it. its not fun... youll drop the societal idealist takes pretty quick when youre the one involved.

[@owenlichtenberg7932]

@@jamineamina5429 haha that makes no sense.. socialist ideals? letting yourself being hit by a woman is a socialist ideal? I think you’ve smoked too much January 6

[@jamineamina5429]

@@owenlichtenberg7932 youre right. that doesnt make any sense at all. heres the issue: the word i used was SOCIETAL... not socialist. most things wont make any sense if you cant fking read them.

[@owenlichtenberg7932]

@@jamineamina5429 so is that hè moral highground? His ego is too important to protect and that is why it is perfectly reasonable to slap her? That’s Bronze Age ethics. Eye for an eye shit. That’s how 5 year olds fighting on the playground justify themselves. If Dana White really can’t be seen being slapped by his wife without retaliating, he truly has an infantile worldview.

[@jamineamina5429]

@@owenlichtenberg7932 what? i havent said a word about danas situation. i was talking about ariels standpoint on the issue of "never" seeing a reason to hit a woman. NEVER? tf is that absolutist, black and white bullshit? the world isnt binary like that. im sure you can imagine a scenario where it would be moral to kill someone? so, "theres never a reason to kill someone" is an arguable statement and we all agree theres a gray area there... but "theres never a reason to hit a woman" is an end all be all that some people wont allow you even begin to refute. how tf is hitting a woman more taboo than murder in our culture? it used to be that way for me until a drunk woman assaulted me, then i was ridiculed for not defending myself. i didnt hit back, and i wouldnt hit back if it happened again... but i sure as fk saw a good reason to that night.

[@ManFrancisco]

I don’t really follow MMA that much but I truly find Ariel to be an amazing journalist. He seems to be very very passionate about the sport on a level that should be respected by the UFC.

[@danield6672]

nah he's a leech and the TMZ of the MMA world. He's never trained any form of MMA or fought in his life. He only became a MMA journalist because he couldn't get work as a basketball or wwe journalist.

[@thomasyates616]

The UFC and Dana made him and he shit all over them ,there’s a lot of people who totally disagree with you!

[@lovefist86]

He's the best because he respects the occupation, does his homework and has something so few journalists lack and that's integrity.

[@danield6672]

@@lovefist86 Integrity; the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Ariel Helweenie: Dana should not be allowed to use the word violence the promote the UFC, it's wrong...but I can say that Francis Ngannou nearly DECAPITATED Overeem. Dana should pay the fighters more than 29% but it's ok for me Ariel crybaby to pay them 0% of the money they make for me because I have *integrity*

[@mikesimpson7323]

R.I.p. elephant boy.

[@thehatersball4041]

Ariel is a man with integrity. Pretty rare.

[@picklecage5488]

Yeah it truly is and he truly has it.

[@kylemadison1296]

Not really. He is pretty self absorbed. I am not saying I disagree with some of the things he says, but he always makes everything about him.

[@romeyrome32]

He really is.👍🏾

[@JCic22]

Hell no wtf. He has a terrible history. He is fake as hell. Rampage wanted to kill him.

[@thehatersball4041]

@@romeyrome32 Well l love the Mr. Sinister picture and thanks for the response!!!

[@RockbandDrummer321]

Gotta have Ariel on more often guys!

[@SweetWilliam95]

Ariel and Luke showing respect to each other will always make me happy

[@justinbuck1957]

@litecoin satoshi Like she will say what she actually thinks. It's that simple for the abused, I assume.

[@rickd438]

@@jcbtcWhat would you expect her to say?

[@Priestwhitelotus]

Dana hates Ariel because he's not like Brett "softball" Okamoto.

[@TheOrlandoTrustfull]

Jcbtc: Do you think "The wife" might be saying that because Dana is a multi-millionaire and the father of her kids who has been cheating on her for years with Vegas hookers?

[@danielmma1875]

@litecoin satoshi you gotta be kidding me lol. Did you see what Dana was saying about Ariel on paddy’s show lol that’s when Ariel responded. Good for Ariel to stand up for himself and not be a Dana ass kisser like a lot of people are lol 😂

[@jeepz669]

He's a puppet puff piece "journalist"... Brett is a joke

[@rickd438]

@@danielmma1875I don’t these people who want to kiss Dana’s ass all the time. Good for Ariel standing up for himself. Dana should have kept his mouth shut with Paddy.

[@Charles-bn4cd]

Ariel is on FIRE! Good job Ariel! Hardcore mma fans love you!

[@paritoshdayal4918]

Ariel is a legend. More of him please.

[@mistabobdobalina7319]

Both he and Luke need more air time. They will unearth all the ugly stuff, and aren’t afraid of recourse. Thanks to DL & Stu, the shipping container! Fans with a moral compass appreciate it.

[@blahblahbag8715]

What's worse is that everything is already unearthed. It is simply ignored or actively excused. These two and a few others in the industry are the only ones speaking on what is plainly visible.

[@ericramo1561]

I agree with Ariel and Luke on everything like both guys, except the fact that they are telling young men to accept physical assault from abusive woman and take a seat calmly, miss me with that stuff

[@rockinpranch8173]

@@ericramo1561 that isn’t their message. They’re saying to walk away, aka remove yourself from the situation. Instead of hitting someone who isn’t a threat.

[@ericramo1561]

@@rockinpranch8173 I take it you have always had great relationships with woman and that’s great for you but I’ve seen woman corner men and go all human on them, they are human just like us and no way am I going to feed into the fact that they realize just because they are woman they can get away with abuse

[@rockinpranch8173]

@@ericramo1561 that’s not what I insinuated, nor is it relevant to this case. The guy is staying with his wife, if he thought she was abusive why would he remain with her?

[@SomeDudeInTheChat]

Yo! Ariel is THE MAN! I love this dude for bringing an extremely sensible, human, yet very professional voice to a sport that is seemingly senseless on so many levels.

[@pocketacessuited]

Ariel and Luke Thomas are the best

[@lydian84]

they are just the best. glad i'm not the only one who feels that way.

[@dominicmannion9696]

Brett Okamoto is the best at licking Danas arse! with no shame and a smile.

[@SamAlan3005]

They’re really the top of the game

[@mustangx]

Ariel is the GOAT

[@mustangx]

Paddy Pimblet what an absolute wannabe- he wants to be conor but conor is wayyyyyy smarter and charismatic

[@BigBodyBAJAN]

Need people like Ariel with a microphone, if you’re going to call yourself a journalist with integrity, you can’t be afraid of the machine

[@romeyrome32]

I co-sign that 100 percent! That's supposed to be the very essence and embodiment journalism but I'm afraid it's becoming rarer these days.

[@babyspider99]

At what point do you become part of the machine?

[@ASP2778]

So true, John Morgan, Kevin Iole and Brett O look like jokes

[@danielmma1875]

@@ASP2778 Iole is a joke and Brett is the biggest Dana ass kisser I’ve ever seen. When he interviews Dana. You can tell Brett checked with him beforehand if his questions are ok lol

[@jeepz669]

WE care about your journalism Ariel, you're the goat! 🙌

[@mikedean2485]

Luke and Ariel, the adults in the unscrupulous room of MMA, bringing much needed heat to a subject that sorely needs addressing. Much respect 🙌🙏

[@TheRulersBack18]

GREAT TO HEAR ARIEL MENTION HOW THEY SPOKE ABOUT KYRIE BUT OUT HERE CAPING FOR DANA WHITE

[@josephwhiteside2739]

Yep.

[@sneakyvictorsneakyvictor7658]

@litecoin satoshi Keep the same energy for everyone (player Kyrie and CEO Dana), that's all Ariel is saying, and that sounds fair

[@kardave2848]

Arial took the high road but still got his shots in! Tremendous interview!

[@ashittandon9301]

I love Ariel. That starting bit was hilarious. We need him on more often

[@lovefist86]

Ariel is the best journalist. Honest, admits his mistakes, does research, has no fear and was only hated by fighters because they wish they could call out the company they now hate when they were fighting for it.

[@mikerhem1273]

false, still till this day Ariel disputes that he did anything wrong in the UFC brock Lesner surprise promotion situation. And its very easy to understand who was wrong. UFC does 100% of its promoting by keeping everything in house. If ufc news drop without the company's approval its simply a case of an inside leak.

[@JJ-ut3sn]

@@mikerhem1273 I was gonna answer this same thing. Most times I agree with Ariel..but the fact that he was acting like he didn't know what he did wrong makes me give him the side eye. The UFC, essentially puts on a show, that is like a movie. The Brock reveal, whether it was being spoken about or not was not for him to leak to anyone that didn't know. That would be like leaking the ending of a Marvel movie before the movie starts. He messed up that surprise and they were right to be mad at him

[@s2mey382]

@@JJ-ut3sn A journalist breaking news isn't doing something wrong. It's doing your job.

[@JJ-ut3sn]

@@s2mey382 If he was the first to write the story AFTER the UFC dropped the video on the PPV, that is called doing your job. If he exposed a scandal that they were trying to keep under wraps..that is doing his job. If Brock decided to come back and maybe because of his rep and relationships He found out first and made a tweet. Good Job. But you don't ruin a surprise part of the show, just to be the first to do it. That is not his job, and it lacks class, especially when you know it was a secret. If you don't understand it, that's ok. Apparently he doesn't either

[@lovefist86]

@@mikerhem1273 You're still talking about that? Get the fuck over it. Didn't even matter.

[@Italianastuff]

Love Ariel, happy he’s on.

[@nilesrodriguez4343]

Ariel speaking up for himself and others - whether you like him or not, his intentions are good and come from a genuine place. I'd like to see you MMA journalists Collab like this more. This is great content.

[@bunnyrabbitlovethief]

That was such a great segment! I never watch anything MMA but will now be following Ariel! So earnest

[@caspervilla4254]

Ariel is the person MMA needs 💯a true voice for the fighters and for the integrity of this league. Thank you for speaking out against SAS and Molly that was quite despicable.

[@winstonsyme5899]

You are correct. I don’t follow MMA at all. But I believe Ariel would make it better. This is off topic, but somewhat insightful. A consumer reporter was always criticizing the quality and products of Sony. After a while the CEO hired him for input before the products were released. The guy eventually became CEO because he improved Sony quality so much. I think Ariel could have a similar affect.

[@damowantswealth]

As a fan of luke thomas and ariel, plesse do more content with the boys!!

[@thomastakesportspodcast]

I have met both Dana and Ariel. Ariel shook my hand and we conversed for 10-15 minutes. I met Dana White and held my hand out to shake it introduced myself and he didn't shake my hand or say hello and he said enjoy the fights and that was it.

[@s2mey382]

Lucky he didn't slap you

[@matty-yp7zi]

It goes deeper than that with Dana hating on Ariel with the words he uses on him. he's clearly a narcissist and any narcissist that gets exposed or challenged will lash out to you in the meanest way and come up with extravagant stories to deflect.

[@DemocracyFirst2025]

Dana (like his buddy Tr*mp) is not just a narcissist, he’s a sociopath.

[@danielmma1875]

Facts

[@lucasward6177]

Rewatched this twice just to give Ariel his views.

[@Scottish_Trucker]

Ariel has every right to go hard on this good on him 💚

[@gee2661]

Any OG MMA fan know’s Ariel is the go to source. Dana acts like he was a real dork before Lorenzo put him on. He reminds me of the nerd who got the car before everyone in high school n doesn’t know how to act. Ariel deserves more respect,DANA doesn’t own him like he owns his fighters.

[@arashhejazi1602]

Great interview

[@422Krazy]

Ariel "high road dead" Helwani is on a different level since leaving ESPN. He has been holding back zero punches & taking out ALL the receipts. Let's go 10-7 Helwani !!!!

[@futurebs4]

5 minutes in and I already have tears in my eyes😭😭. This combo never fails 👌🏿👌🏿

[@dvowls120]

Awesome interview!

[@briangrenier2149]

So no weekend observations on KZbin this week thank you guy's keep up the good shit

[@lowpro131]

Great segment guys! Ari fits ur show so well love when u guys collab

[@jamesprez7296]

The last segment was GOLD.

[@travisgreene3509]

Ariel is hysterical when he comes on

[@ry4835]

The way Dana and Paddy talked about Ariel .. the Vile uncalled-for language .. That also, should be the cause of some meaningful sanction .. it was truly shocking, to watch and listen to them spew such poisonous bile ..

[@aleas799]

Love Ariel

[@dynamitehopper]

This was amazing

[@jsavak99]

People hate Ariel for speaking the truth

[@josephwhiteside2739]

Dana White got mad at Helwani for reporting the news. That's some soft ass shit.

[@pox775]

Ariel runs the UFC .......awesome

[@_J_Mac]

Great interview as always with Ariel. Plus Billy Madison...phile

[@tyronebiggums7501]

bret okamoto is everything dana wished ariel would be

[@mavs0582]

Interesting nugget by Lebatard about SAS and his affiliations to Endeavor

[@lepkebuchalter902]

Thanks Dan. Great segment so damn smart. I'm such a fan of Ariel

[@TheReal_DeanD]

Part of me thinks why Dana had the impression that Ariel was going to be his mouthpiece was that when he was at FOX the pay checks were coming from Zuffa. The parent company of the UFC at the time. So if your pay is coming from a company with ties to the UFC they don't expect you to be impartial. Either way I'm glad Ariel is here and doing his thing letting this all be known.

[@icealex27]

Ariel is the goat ❤

[@picklecage5488]

Ariel is a freaking legend

[@lastcall8286]

Ariel, bringing the hammer down on the power slapper extraordinaire Dana white, I love it.

[@ibrahimdhere]

I see my guy Amin Elhassan still rocking in Florida. Miss him at ESPN basketball 🏀 the Jump with Rachael.

[@lukewood77]

Helwani for president of the UFC fighters union!

[@sjarulz]

Dana took a shot at Skipper in the media that was very uncalled for. Please expose mma and ufc for all they are.

[@TexMex420]

You already know the female UFC fighter who texted Ariel and thanked him was rose

[@bsmooth45]

Can we get yesterday's full show uploaded to KZbin? If so, thanks

[@Folse]

Man. Ariel is well spoken.

[@BeefPapa]

Good to see Ariel has turned that page

[@chasebellmeyer7368]

Helwani 🐐

[@OfLaSoul]

Ariel keeping it real.

[@punkassfunk]

Not pulling any punches here! 👍 Like an uncensored version of his monologue He is THE BEST in the business and Dana White owes him, big time.

[@Tito74]

Last two days I have become more of a fan of Ariel.

[@billwilliams4281]

Good to see Ariel getting this junk off of his chest!

[@pradeepst]

Ariel Helwani is the Steve Austin of this era.

[@jbuc1]

Skipper another 0 and Helwani would have took meadowlark to the moon major fumble

[@shindean]

Ariel is literally the most intimate voice of the mma world, all of his topics could've been exclusive to Meadowlark.

[@abdulkdr_]

Helwani bringing his MMA show with his fighter interviews to Meadowlark would have been massive. Literally to the moon

[@shindean]

@litecoin satoshi it's his job to talk shit, why don't you go away if you're so soft to listen?

[@brownpanda8320]

Amin shouting out Andrew, real one 👏

[@mafortu9032]

Daña white went from being threatened by whitey bulger to thinking he is whitey bulger

[@runawayuniverse]

When will people stop with this bullshit? Dana was never a boxer and Dana was never run out of Boston by Whitey Bulger. It's all made up nonsense by Dana to show that he is some sort of tough guy in a sport filled with legit tough guys (and ladies too) Dana is a fraud that if not for his billionaire buddies would be stocking shelves at a Wal-Mart.

[@PAWGmoth]

Great guy, never meddum :')

[@AnthonyPiccirillo]

Ariel and Luke, best in the business

[@gordonliu3972]

Guarantee these guys view Brian Campbell as 'that other guy'. 🤣

[@jhette007]

Dana and his wife were very hands on in promoting power slap together

[@KingsofTruth425]

🔥 💯

[@steveknick1978]

Don’t forget ESPN has integrated Stephen A. into the promotion of UFC PPV & also places him on those broadcasts. He’s making extra money because of the affiliation & promotion he does for UFC/ESPN.

[@LordRockington83]

I fucking LOVE when Ariel collabs with the Lebatard show! Luke yesterday now Ariel today is awesome. Too bad it took Dana being an awful person to make this happen.

[@nellyxfig]

Nice to see Mike is coloring his hair

[@914Rocky]

Great guest. I’ve always been struck by how the UFC promotes itself first. It’s never Jones v. Cormier. It’s always UFC 75. There totally needs to be competition for UFC. And Dana White needs to be disciplined by someone. If not terminated.

[@broders3]

10-6 Helwani for sure

[@slappydoodle]

As someone who was involved in domestic violence (100% my fault no excuse an it still haunts me) I can promise u that dana white an his wife have acted that way b4 That it certainly wasn't the 1st time With how casually she slapped him an he slapped her back

[@bakusbakul4327]

He doesn’t slap her unless she slaps first. Why don’t we talk more about not slapping someone in the first place? Not target the more famous person

[@Treeezzz]

@@bakusbakul4327 you don’t know that. You don’t know what happened prior to the video. With the size difference and juice flowing through Dana’s body he could have easily handled that differently. Don’t make excuses for people that won’t make them for themselves

[@slappydoodle]

@bakus bakul I agree nobody should b touching anyone, yet as someone who has a spotlight on them at all times u would think he would know to control himself. That's y I guarantee this has happened b4 between them

[@bakusbakul4327]

@@Treeezzz You’re right we don’t know, but we can only go by the contents of the video. I’m not making excuses for anyone. I’m saying it’s unfair to pinpoint Dana’s actions and overlook the provoker’s. Man or woman, keep your hands to yourself

[@Treeezzz]

@@bakusbakul4327 it’s unfair for a juiced up person that can easily stop the situation to instinctually smack the mother of his kids and go in for another. He said himself that there is no excuse. Don’t make them for him.

[@CombatSports01]

1:33 lol

[@ChampionshipRounds42]

Joe Mixon - Cincinnati Bengals … Mic Drop!

[@teegees]

Had no idea who is Andrew Schultz until this show

[@CrazyMammaJamma]

I don't really like how everyone talks like the UFC IS the entire sport of MMA. All of the stuff that's news-worthy that has happened in the past week really effected the UFC more than it did the other companies.

[@straightup660]

First 5 mins…Billy as a Bills fan.

[@DemocracyFirst2025]

4:14 great guy, niiver meddum 🤣 And Dan’s cracking up too? Is Dan a homeless 🐈? Does Chang’s now have a South Beach location?? Water? #waterweeddunehair

[@BlessedAreTheCheesemakers]

why is weekend observations edited out?

[@jhette007]

Dana was promoting The Power Slap literally

[@queenmaggies2677]

I miss listening to this show in the morning on ESPN radio.

[@ecclairmayo4153]

They are the only ones talking about Dana White slapping his wife story. The media wont even touch it. Ariel is right

[@derekjones2835]

There will always be those in the so called MMA media who will only ask the soft questions and never talk about the real important issues in MMA such as fighter pay because they don't want to annoy their daddy Dana. Typically, gigantic corporations such as ESPN will look the other way on domestic violence and racism if the person saying it is too important to them to lose. This will always exist. However, as long as shows like this and we have real journalists like Ariel around who are not afraid to stand up to bullies like Dana, we'll be fine. It brings balance. It's life. Keep it real Ariel. Dana's just a leech who is where he is because Lorenzo held his hand and now Ari does.

[@joeo5484]

Damn Ariel just @ Brett Cuckamoto next time! 16:40

[@mathewgarza6125]

Ariel Goat Helwani

[@majestic_irrelevance]

Ariel promotes a world of mercy by being merciless

[@mikebb1000]

Ariel has always been AWSOME at his job, always has been a great journalist and I think finally everyone who isn’t a diehard MMA fan are figuring it out. Quick edit, Buffalo Bills are still terrible. Sorry Ariel. Won’t say who I like far too embarrassing this year😂😂

[@jules7209]

Dazed in confused is on all the time on cable

[@timmullen7703]

Great guy never meddim

[@danieleads1266]

Why did Skipper take a shot?

[@thefranchize3445]

Ariel must be loving this. Can finally actually say stuff to hurt Dana.

[@mmhcreates]

19:35

[@avjake]

You know what's inhumane? A visitor's sideline that is 140 degrees at surface level.

[@gordonliu3972]

Ariel revealed that there are rumors that Bellator is for sale. If Bellator is on the market, who will be the ones to buy Bellator? Will it be UFC, ONE Championship, or PFL? Will it be a group like Endeavor? What do you guys think?