Ariel Helwani shares a never-heard-before detail about Dana White on his "ban" from UFC after infamous Brock Lesnar report
Ariel Helwani recently shared an interesting piece of previously undisclosed information about his infamous two-day ban from the UFC in 2016. Helwani also addressed the UFC 200 reporting incident that spoiled his relationship with Dana White and opened up about being accused of receiving insider information.
For context, UFC 200 was scheduled to go down in July 2016 and the event was to be headlined by an exciting women's bantamweight title fight between Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes. During the UFC 199 event a month prior, the promotion was planning to broadcast a surprise announcement about Brock Lesnar returning to the octagon against Mark Hunt despite being active in the WWE.
Before the promotion could make its announcement, Helwani broke the news just hours before UFC 199 kicked off. Needless to say, White wasn't pleased and had the reporter physically ejected from the arena. Helwani was also handed a lifetime ban from UFC events, lifted two days later.
While the promotion accused Helwani of using unfair tactics to report breaking news, the reporter has consistently maintained that he did nothing wrong. During a recent episode of The MMA Hour podcast with Darren Till, Helwani disclosed some never-before-heard information about the UFC 200 fiasco. He said:
"I'm the one that got in trouble. Not Brock Lesnar or Mark Hunt... What he [Dana White] tried to spin was that I got this news secretly from the UFC... I've never actually told this... When he kicked me out of the building... He actually tried to guess who told me the news and he guessed someone that was friends with Brock."
Ariel Helwani hopeful of rekindling relationship with Dana White after UFC CEO's goodwill gesture
Earlier this year, Ariel Helwani expressed his surprise at one of Dana White's gestures and speculated that the two could soon be friends again. Helwani recently launched a new online podcast with UFC ring girl Luciana Andrade and was informed about White's support for the Brazilian model working with the reporter.
During the second episode of the Ariel and the Bad Girl show, Helwani asked Andrade if she faced any backlash from the UFC for working with him. To the reporter's surprise, Andrade said:
"Not really... So, I don't have to ask them but I did it anyway, you know, out of respect and relationship with the company for almost nine years. So, I did ask Dana and he was like, 'No, you can do whatever you want.' He did appreciate me asking but you know, they're super supportive."
Helwani was surprised White was supportive of Andrade working with him and said:
"Wow! That actually warms my heart. Maybe there's hope that we can be friends again... I'm happy to hear that. That's actually the nicest thing I've heard all day. Can I be honest? I think deep down Dana actually likes me."