Throughout the week, several programs have discussed the treatment of Indiana Fever guard and No. 1 overall draft selection Caitlin Clark in the WNBA. Some of the discussions have stirred controversy and led people to call others out for a lack of knowledge in the space. As the league continues to grow, those who have previously discussed the WNBA or women’s sports as a whole are speaking out about the coverage itself and how it can be improved. Ariel Helwani, who hosts The MMA Hour program twice per week, recently outlined how he finds it interesting to watch this coverage and everything surrounding Clark as she became more popular while starring on the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team.
Helwani, who works for a variety of different entities including MMA Fighting, Spotify and DAZN, drew a comparison between the WNBA and women’s mixed martial arts and boxing in how the sports are covered. He underscored how women athletes are treated no differently than men on the program regardless of how many encompass the lineup at a certain event. Although he understands a perception that the sport of MMA can be viewed in a neanderthal-esque manner, he believes that people have grown up over the years.
“I really think everyone in the sport from the promoters, from the media, from the fans should really be proud of the fact that I think we cover and talk about and treat the women exactly like we do the men,” Helwani said. “I really do feel that way, and it’s wild to see how some people don’t know how to talk to women athletes like that story that came out with the columnist from the IndyStar – they have no idea how to do it, they are uncomfortable, they are awkward, they are weird, and they don’t know how to even talk about it now with all this other drama going on with the WNBA and Caitlin Clark.”
As he continued his remarks, Helwani acknowledged that he is cognizant of people who do not like women’s MMA or women’s boxing. Even so, he is still proud of those who are involved with the sport and covering it for a long time.
“I think there’s a lot to be proud of because I don’t feel like the fighters [or] the athletes are ever uncomfortable or feel like they’re being treated unfairly or covered unfairly or covered differently,” Helwani said. “That’s not a story; that’s not a thing, and you see it happening now with basketball and other sports. It’s very much a thing, and it’s kind of eye-opening; it’s like, ‘Wow, you guys have no idea how to do this correctly.’”
Helwani expressed that people do not seem to know the correct descriptions, characterizations or talking points as it pertains to this space. Covering women athletes has been part of the norm within MMA for several years, and he does not treat them differently. With Clark and the WNBA, she has already faced several instances of people failing to exhibit professionalism or proper decorum. This has resulted in subsequent apologies and discipline in a variety of manners, including suspending Gregg Doyle of The Indianapolis Star and not allowing him to cover Fever games in person.
“It’s all very fascinating to watch unfold because I feel like it’s so not a thing over here in this little corner of the sports world,” Helwani said. “I hope I’m expressing that correctly and verbalizing that the right way because you don’t really see that type of stuff over here.”
