Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez reveals the injuries and life events that kept him out of fighting in the UFC for over two years and looks ahead to his February 17th showdown with Francis Ngannou on ESPN. Cain also explains how his friendship with current heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is helping with his road back to fighting in the Octagon.Read More →
On the first edition of Ariel & The Bad Guy on ESPN+ in 2019, Ariel Helwani and Chael Sonnen discuss what they think will lead the headlines in the sport this year. Chael looks forward to Nevada levying penalties to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor for the post-fight brawl at UFC 229 and who Daniel Cormier will fight next. Helwani weighs in on if Cormier will fight Jon Jones or Brock Lesnar, then looks at the options for fighters after ONE Championship made a big push at the end of 2018. Sonnen then questions if the PFL would be a good fit for Cris Cyborg, competing against Kayla Harrison in their women’s 155-pound division.Read More →
New UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones joins Ariel & The Bad Guy to recap his win vs. Alexander Gustafsson in the main event on UFC 232. Jones asks to only speak to Helwani, and not to Chael Sonnen before breaking down how the ground game was the big difference in the fight. Read More →
Ariel Helwani and Chael Sonnen preview the two title fights headlining UFC 232 in Los Angeles, with Jon “Bones” Jones battling Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch of their 2013 instant classic for the light heavyweight title. Read More →
Ariel Helwani, Chael Sonnen and Brett Okamoto provide insight and analysis at the UFC 232 weigh-In between Jon “Bones” Jones and Alexander Gustafsson prior to their light heavyweight title fight at The Forum in Inglewood. Helwani, Sonnen and Okamoto dive into the controversy behind Jones’ failed drug test and UFC president Dana White’s final decision to relocate the fight from Las Vegas to California based on Jones’ inability to get licensed in Nevada.Read More →
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones speaks with Ariel Helwani ahead of his UFC 232 bout vs. Alexander Gustafsson for the title. Jones discusses the event being moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles on less than a week’s notice. “Bones” explains why he apologized to fellow fighters on the card and discusses why the science proves there was no re-ingestion of a banned substance.Read More →
Ariel Helwani looks back at the past six months of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show and shows us the best moments from each episodeRead More →
UFC president Dana White and Vice President of Athlete Health & Performance Jeff Novitzky joins SportsCenter to (0:05) explain why UFC 232 is being moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. (0:33) Novitzky explains that a urine sample collected from Jon Jones’ test earlier this year came back positive for a long term metabolite, which was the same substance Jones was sanctioned for in July of 2017Read More →
On Ariel & The Bad Guy on ESPN+, Ariel Helwani and Chael Sonnen discuss the growing feud between UFC president Dana White and Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya, including each promoters’ comments on First Take last week. Helwani says it doesn’t bother him, but notices that WhiteRead More →
New York Ric joins Ariel Helwani in studio to recap the weekend in MMA, including Bellator MMA’s two events in Hawaii, including Ilima-Lei Macfarlane headlining Bellator 213 in front of an incredible atmosphere. They also discuss Lyoto Machida’s debut with the promotion, Neiman Gracie’s win over Ed Ruth and LiamRead More →
Join Ariel Helwani live for Episode 26 of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. Guests today include: Edson Barboza, Kevin Lee, Jessica-Rose Clark, Al Iaquinta, Colby Covington, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, Michael Chandler, Dominick Cruz and Vitor Belfort.Read More →
UFC president Dana White tells Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman of First Take that he is “100 percent” entertaining the idea of venturing into boxing and that he will do a better job of promoting than Oscar De La Hoya. (1:25) White also goes more into his issues with De La Hoya and how he handles his business.Read More →
Dana White sits down with First Take and contradicts Oscar De La Hoya’s comments about UFC athletes being underpaid while calling De La Hoya an “idiot” and “a liar.”Read More →
Join Ariel Helwani live for Episode 25 of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. Guests today include: Valentina Shevchenko, Jessica Eye, Ilima-Lei MacFarlane, Tyron Woodley, Ben Askren, Dan Ige, Becky Lynch, Sage Northcutt, Don Madge and Frankie Edgar. Read More →
UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway and his son Rush, aka Mini Blessed, speak with Ariel Helwani after UFC 231 where Max beat Brian Ortega via TKO. (2:37) Mini Blessed gives his thoughts on the fight, saying his favorite part was when the doctor called off the fight after the fourth round.Read More →
On Ariel & The Bad Guy, the guys debate which title fight at UFC 231, the featherweight title bout featuring Max Holloway vs. Brian Ortega, or the women’s flyweight contest of Valentina Shevchenko vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk is more intriguing. Chael Sonnen is looking forward to finally seeing Holloway-Ortega because it was supposed to happen back in July, while Helwani is more intrigued in Shevchenko-Jedrzejczyk because of Holloway’s inability to make it to fight night so far in 2018.Read More →
UFC featherweight Brian Ortega takes Brett Okamoto into his childhood neighborhood of Harbor City in Los Angeles, California, describing the violent environment he was brought up in and how he got into fighting. Ortega discusses how his father “taught him to survive” the streets and spends time with some of his friends in the area.Read More →
Ariel Helwani and Chael Sonnen react to the UFC announcing Israel Adesanya vs Anderson Silva for UFC 234. Sonnen says he is excited for the bout as Anderson Silva’s intellect will make this an interesting fight. Helwani cannot believe people who are not excited for this fight as it is “the fight we all wanted to see.”Read More →
PFL president Carlos Silva joins Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show in studio to break down the highs and lows of the promotion’s first year and preview the tournament finals later in 2018 where six people will be crowned champion and will receive $1 million each. Silva looks ahead to changes that can be made for 2019 and teases a new partnership.Read More →
Fresh off his knockout of Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz calls in to Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show to discuss the build up to the fight and his reaction to the outcome of the fight. (2:09) Ortiz expresses why he feels like he is not getting enough respect after knocking out Liddell and how he proved he can still fight. Read More →
UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem calls in to Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show to discuss his win vs. Sergey Pavlovich at UFC Fight Night 141, saying he needed to win this fight and expresses that his is still enjoying his journey in MMA. Overeem details the process it took leading up to his fight vs. Pavlovich and what it was like training with Curtis Blaydes. Read More →
On Ariel Helwani’s MMA Post-Show, New York Ric joins in to break down the earlier interview with Jon Jones and discuss whether or not the real “Bones” is back. They discuss the newly booked Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva to take place at UFC 234, whether or not Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz 3 with Golden Boy MMA was a success and look ahead to this weekend’s Fight Night with heavyweight up and comer Tai Tuivasa taking on Junior Dos Santos.Read More →
UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou calls in to Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show to discuss his fight vs. Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night 141 in China. Ngannou expresses his thoughts on his victory, how much it means to his career and says he is finally issues that have slowed him down in some of his recent bouts.Read More →
UFC bantamweight Louis Smolka joins Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show to discuss his return to the promotion with an armbar victory over the weekend in China. Smolka describes how he previously struggling with issues outside of the cage and how he overcame them on his successful return to the Octagon.Read More →