Ariel Helwani defends Dana White amid public disappointment over UFC 300 - "You're all driving yourselves insane"
Ariel Helwani has seemingly come to Dana White's defense amid the criticism the UFC head honcho has lately been receiving. The MMA world is fast approaching the landmark UFC 300 event, which will transpire at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, on April 13, 2024.
White recently announced multiple matchups for the highly-anticipated fight card. He unveiled the card's first title matchup, with UFC women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili defending her title against fellow Chinese athlete Yan Xiaonan.
Notable non-title matchups, such as a lightweight bout between Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan, a featherweight scrap between Calvin Kattar and Aljamain Sterling, and a light heavyweight clash featuring Jiri Prochazka and Aleksandar Rakic, have also been confirmed for the event.
However, certain sections of the MMA community have lambasted White for underdelivering with the UFC 300 fight card so far.
Ariel Helwani has now tweeted a video of himself arguing in favor of Dana White. The veteran MMA journalist suggested that the expectations "saddled" to the event are "absurd." He indicated that if these very matchups were announced for any other UFC card, people would've likely lauded them. Helwani further stated:
"But it seems like every announcement is met with like, 'And what else? What else are you gonna do about UFC 300? What else are you gonna do?' You're all driving yourselves insane. This is going to be a very good card. That's it. It's gonna be a very good card. And it's gonna have, probably, a big name on every single fight. And there's gonna be no sort of filler prelim. But you're all driving yourselves insane."
He added:
"To your point, Dana White is setting everyone up for failure here, for disappointment, because he's saying, 'I've got a big announcement.' And then, it's that. You can't do that. You've gotta read the room. You've gotta know the audience. If they just would announce these fights here and there, and in one shot, I don't think people would feel the same way."
Check out Ariel Helwani's comments below:
UFC 300 card: When Dana White's assertion stoked 'super-fight' speculation concerning the monumental event
In late 2023, Dana White appeared on the Nelk Boys' Full Send podcast. He was asked about the possibility of super-fights transpiring in the UFC dominion within the next year or two. White responded by implying that a few super-fights, not involving UFC megastar Conor McGregor, could be on the cards.
The UFC CEO said:
"There is. We’re talking about one right now actually that just popped up a few days ago so I can’t talk about it."
Catch Dana White's comments below:
Dana White's remarks ended up generating widespread speculation that he'd hinted at a possible super-fight taking place at UFC 300.
Prominent MMA personalities, like Chael Sonnen, opined that a clash between UFC welterweight kingpin Leon Edwards and UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev could be the likeliest super-fight to materialize at UFC 300.