Sean O’Malley is giving his thought on the back-and-forth between Paddy Pimblett and Ariel Helwani.
One of the newest feuds on the block is between Paddy Pimblett and Ariel Helwani. This past week, seemingly out of the blue, Pimblett took aim at Helawani over fighter interviews. While doing a podcast with Dana White, Pimblett called out Helwani specifically for not paying fighters to be guests on his show. Helwani is one of the most popular MMA journalists out there and his show The MMA Hour is one of the most watched.
Helwani did not take kindly to the word by Pimblett and shot some back at him. He showed proof on his show that Pimblett has asked to be on Helwani’s show in the past, and then turned around and asked to be paid for his appearance.
Sean O’Malley is not in total agreement with Paddy Pimblett
O’Malley has been following along with the drama between fighter and journalist and decided to weigh in. On his own YouTube, joined by his brother, O’Malley took aim at what Pimblett had to say about Helwani.
“Paddy was talking to Dana that it pisses him off that journalists specifically Ariel go out there and try to make money off our names basically, is what he’s saying,” he said. “Which drives me f–king crazy. Ariel is passionate about fighting more passionate than anyone I’ve ever met. He loves the sport and he found a way to make money doing what he loves. How can you hate on that? I found a way to make money doing what I love, fighting. People find their passion, they find a way to make money from it.”
O’Malley feels that Pimblett taking aim at Helwani is unjustified. Fighters can gain a lot of exposure and media coverage from being on Helwani’s show. There are other podcasts out there, which seem to be getting more prevalent, that offer guest payment for their time. In his own career, O’Malley can see needing payment in some instances.
“If they don’t have an audience and they have zero followers and they want me to spend half an hour on their time. Yeah, pay me,” he said. “If you’re having an audience like Ariel, then I mean you’re getting benefit out of it, too.”
O’Malley is running his own successful podcast on his own YouTube. He can post his own opinions without having to be on anyone else’s show. He does still make appearances and as such a big name, it is possible that he gets paid for many of them.
