Ariel Helwani and Nate Diaz
Nate Diaz has sided with Ariel Helwani and reacts to the reporter’s sharp retort to Paddy Pimblett.
Ariel Helwani and Paddy Pimblett have rekindled an unlikely rivalry. Yes, you heard that right! During a recent podcast with UFC president Dana White, who has openly expressed his repugnance for Helwani, Pimblett fired profanity-laced shots at the MMA reporter. Helwani responded in classic ‘Thug Nose’ fashion and now has received the support of MMA star Nate Diaz.
Talking ahead of the biggest fight of his career, Pimblett said: “I hate all these journalists, especially the ones that earn off us, you know what I mean? Ariel Helwani in particular, like he loves earning money off fighters like every decent job he’s had he’s been sacked from, you know what I mean?“
“Like now he’s just a biased content creator you know what I mean? He hates on you [Dana White] he hates on UFC, he even hates on me now and it proper annoys me because he uses fighters for clicks, uses fighters to make money and then tries to have the audacity to talk about the UFC and yourself saying they don’t pay the fighters enough, get your dough out Ariel you know what I mean? Start paying people for these interviews what you make thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds on.”
I know that now because I make money off YouTube so I know how much he makes off YouTube off all his interviews he does and you’re doing it for ‘exposure’, no you’re not, you’re doing it to put money in your pocket Ariel, you little rodent.”
Helwani, who’s no stranger to being at the receiving end of fighter’s brunt, spoke in length about the chronology of events in a recent episode of The MMA Hour:
“That’s not how this works, you don’t pay for coverage. That’s not how this works, does Joe Rogan pay his guests? Does Oprah pay her guests? Did Larry King pay his guests? No, that’s not how this works. If you’re upset about the fact that you come on this show and I get paid to do this show, I can say the same thing. ‘Oh I’m upset I have to go to your fights and you get paid more than me when you fight. It’s stupid, I would never say that because that’s ridiculous. We all have a job, we all have a purpose in all of this. I don’t get a single extra dollar off of [interviews]. Pay? The moment I start paying people to come on shows, or even paying for their transportation, cut me off. Throw me in the back.”
The segment ended with Helwani playing a recent voicemail from Pimblett requesting an appearance on his show. Additionally, the reporter noted: “They reached out to me. I didn’t reach out to them, they reached out to me. In retrospect, I think [they were thinking] ‘Hey, let’s see if Ariel will pay us for an interview’.”
Nate Diaz is notoriously famous for shying away from the media and reporters find it tough to get answers out of the MMA star. But over the years, he has developed a good relationship with Helwani and he’s often seen on his channel discussing latest developments of his career.
In light of the ongoing feud, Diaz posted an Instagram story with the caption: “@arielhelwani dropping bars”
Hip-hop artists, both established and aspiring, use the slang term “bars” to refer to the various lines that make up a song. If the song features a guest rapper, he or she may rap a few bars. The term is also used to refer to an instance when a person reveals the truth openly.
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