"He stabbed me in the back" - Ariel Helwani reveals fallout with Henry Cejudo to Demetrious Johnson
Ariel Helwani recently spoke to Demetrious Johnson about his estranged relationship with Henry Cejudo. Helwani accused Cejudo of stabbing him in the back despite him having helped 'Triple C'.
The MMA Hour host claims to have introduced Cejudo to WWE superstar Nikki and Brie Bella. Helwani also believes Cejudo's manager Ali Abdelaziz is stopping the former UFC double champ from making an appearance on The MMA Hour. The Canadian recently told 'Mighty Mouse':
"I don't wanna give myself the old pat in the back but like, I kind of helped him along the way. And then he stabbed me in the back... I got him the Bella Twins. I got him in there, he's like hobnobbing with them, then all of a sudden he stabs me in the back. Doesn't come on the show anymore. It's really cause his manager won't let him come on."
Watch Johnson's appearance on The MMA Hour below:
Cejudo has refrained from appearing on Helwani's show due to the Canadian's history with The Schmo, who is a close friend of 'Triple C'. However, the former UFC double champ recently made a surprise appearance leading up to Chan Sung Jung's fight against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 273.
Ariel Helwani explains his beef with The Schmo and Henry Cejudo
Widely regarded as a pioneer of MMA journalism, Ariel Helwani has had his fair share of clashes in the MMA community. Over the years, the Canadian journalist has earned the ire of notable figures like Dana White and 'Rampage' Jackson. Apart from this, Helwani also has a beef with fellow journalist 'The Schmo'.
Helwani claims the feud started with The Schmo challenging him to a basketball match. While the Canadian was seemingly confident of dominating The Schmo in basketball, he wasn't interested in contests fuelled by Twitter feuds. Helwani also slammed former UFC double champ Henry Cejudo for acting as The Schmo's 'cheerleader' in the feud. The 40-year-old said in an interview with UFC middleweight Darren Till:
“He’s trying to get me to play him in a basketball game. First of all, I would whoop him 11-0 in basketball wouldn’t even be close. It would be embarrassing. His grandchildren would be embarrassed about it…. I’m not trying to play basketball with guys on Twitter and their little friend Henry Cejudo who are just trying to gain attention.
Can we talk about the plight of Henry Cejudo? Olympic gold medallist, bantamweight, and flyweight champion, and he has been resorted to this? This is what’s happened to Henry Cejudo? I am embarrassed for [Henry] Cejudo. Henry is like his cheerleader, it’s like Henry what is going on bud?"
Catch Helwani's interview with Darren Till below:
More recently, 'The Schmo' teamed up with Cejudo to challenge Helwani and Daniel Cormier to a grappling match.