Brendan Schaub responds to Ariel Helwani's latest comments over his dispute with the UFC
![Ariel Helwani (left), Brendan Schaub (right) [Photo credit via @brendanschaub on Instagram]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/09/efd8f-16310853174477-800.jpg?w=500)
Brendan Schaub has issued a statement to clear the air with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani.
Helwani recently slammed Schaub and Joe Rogan for allegedly spreading false rumors about Helwani's dispute with the UFC. But according to Schaub, his intention was never to try to ruin the journalist's reputation. In a recent episode of his The Fighter and the Kid show, Schaub clarified:
"With the whole Ariel stuff, it's like a drone strike. You're aiming for a target, there are some casualties. Ariel isn't my focus, we're on the same lane."
Schaub added that he wasn't trying to imply that Helwani was selected as a commentator for the recently concluded Jake Paul vs. Tyron Showtime event because he turned the opportunity down.
"Like I said, he was a casualty of the big... I have no issue with Ariel. Him working at Showtime has nothing to do with me," Schaub said. "We're doing the same job. So him being there has nothing to do with whether I was there or not, he would still have been there. So I made it seem like the only reason he was there was because I turned it down, that's not the way it went down."
Schaub also revealed that he texted Helwani to apologize, but did not say how the combat sports reporter responded.
Watch Brendan Schaub address his issue with Ariel Helwani:
Ariel Helwani's issues with Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub
Ariel Helwani unleashed a long rant aimed at Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub over his ban from covering UFC events. Rogan initially said that Helwani betrayed the promotion's trust by sharing top-secret information about Brock Lesnar's return at UFC 200. Meanwhile, Schaub has reiterated Rogan's version of the story on his platforms.
But as far as Helwani was concerned, he was merely reporting a piece of insider information – a common practice in other major sporting leagues. The MMA journalist added that nobody from the UFC side told him he couldn't share the information and said he wouldn't have done it otherwise.
Watch Ariel Helwani comment on Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub: