Ariel Helwani hits back at Belal Muhammad and Ali Abdelaziz's online bashing: "You have to continuously kiss that man's tuchus"
Ariel Helwani recently fired back at Belal Muhammad and Ali Abdelaziz for their online bashing on his new show. The veteran MMA journalist lightheartedly joked about welcoming the "temper tantrums" and slammed Abdelaziz for being dependent on another man for everything.
For context, the reigning UFC welterweight champion recently went off on Helwani for downplaying his title win over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 earlier this year. Muhammad seemingly took issue with Helwani wondering whether Edwards was affected by the timing of the fight and launched into an angry rant against the reporter during a recent episode of his podcast.
Soon after, Abdelaziz reposted a clip of Muhammad's rant on X and backed the UFC champion's statements about Helwani. Thanking UFC CEO Dana White for once kicking Helwani out of an event, he wrote in the caption:
"This big [nose] coward he’s been kicked out the UFC for being a piece of sh*t good job @danawhite getting [rid] of this cancer."
Not one to sit back and take it, Helwani recently fired back at the two men during an episode of his new show. The MMA reporter made light of the situation and claimed he missed having his "haters" out in the open. He said:
"The haters are out, and we welcome them all... We welcome you with peace and love. You will hit us with temper tantrums; we will hit you with peace, love, and a big old hug."
Specifically responding to Abdelaziz's words, Helwani continued:
"Congratulations on the win, congratulations on the life. Congratulations on especially being in a spot in your life, and I'm referring to Ali in particular, where you're so dependent on one particular man that you have to continuously kiss his tuchus. That's a Yiddish term, look it up."
Belal Muhammad slams Ariel Helwani for downplaying UFC 304 title win
As mentioned, Belal Muhammad recently sounded off on Ariel Helwani during an episode of his podcast and slammed the reporter for being "one of the biggest haters in the world" today.
Speaking to co-host Jason Anik, Muhammad reacted to Helwani speculating whether his UFC 304 win was due to Edwards' performance being affected by the unusual timing of the fight card. He said:
"Yeah, I mean, obviously Ariel Helwani is one of the biggest haters in the world, right? He knows what he's doing when he tries to bring these questions to fighters and he tries to get you to hate on him. He's been wanting to get people to make excuses for why Leon lost his fight."