Ariel Helwani has responded to Brendan Schaub’s latest rant on the MMA media.
Helwani and Schaub have had their issues as of late. It all began when Schaub suggested that Helwani was difficult to work with on Showtime. Helwani claims Schaub apologized to him in a text and was promised a public apology which he never got.
Recently, Schaub slammed the MMA media over an opinion piece that called for the UFC to move on from Joe Rogan. That article was published on Bloody Elbow.
Ariel Helwani also perceived some of Schaub’s rant to be directed at him. On the Oct. 6 edition of The MMA Hour, Helwani went off on Schaub.
“These are the men and women who have devoted their lives in some way, shape, or form to covering you. They’re the ones who have told editors, ‘hey, you should focus on this sport. You should focus on these fights, on these fighters, on these organizations.’ We’re usually the first to go believe it or not. But these are the people who focus on you and cover you and think and talk about you 24/7. It’s not the other media who you wish you were covered by. Trust me I just came from the mainstream, they don’t know you like we know you. They don’t care about you.”
Helwani made mention that only in MMA media do people complain about journalists because they’ve never been a part of the sport. He said that baseball and political journalists never have to go through that. He also feels that excuse is “tired, lazy, and BS.”
He then went on to blast Schaub for trying to dismiss the careers of others.
“Now let’s talk about you. College football, how did that go? How did NFL go? How did fighting go? How did comedy go? How did podcasting go? How did TV go? Did you achieve your goals? Did you realize your dreams? Did you make it to the top? Was your claim to fame being told by your friend to move on? And it was a great moment. I mean, we talked about it on this show. He put you over. You were the biggest babyface in the biz. You had it, silver platter. You were going after everyone. You were on this show, that show. The truth teller. But how did those gigs go? And how are they going now? Don’t talk about other people’s jobs.”
Whether or not this feud will end soon remains to be seen but we suggest keeping your popcorn ready at all times.
