There are few names that are as recognizable to fans of combat sports as Ariel Helwani. The 43-year-old journalist and host of The Ariel Helwani Show has defined coverage of the genre for over a decade, presenting a fan-first approach to breaking and discussing news while crafting his own lane as one of the sport’s most respected interviewers in sports media.
“I was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of kids at Syracuse University who had the exact same dream as me,” said Helwani about beginning his path to sports journalism. “I’ve always been someone who likes being the underdog, and I like to go down my own path. So, in addition to being a traditional sports fan, I was also a big combat sports fan.”
At the time, the UFC was just eight years old when Helwani entered the doors of the university. When considering internships, Helwani was blessed to find an opportunity with HBO Sports. A brand which he considered “the gold standard” for sports documentaries and boxing broadcasting. Following his graduation in 2004, Helwani bounced around television production jobs with HBO Sports and Spike TV, which was the home of UFC broadcasts at the time.
After a week working in TV production for Spike TV, Helwani confronted his superior Brian Diamond about the work he called “boring” and requested to leave the position. After Diamond told Helwani that he was upset about him leaving and that he would regret leaving. Helwani went to work following his passion for combat sports.
“He told me I would regret it, and that I was very unprofessional. All this stuff that didn’t make me feel good about myself. They kept me around a month till they found someone to replace me at Spike TV,” explained Helwani. “That’s what I considered the crossroads of my life. I started my own website from my cubicle at Spike TV, and said I’d give myself six months to get noticed. I wanted someone to notice that I can interview fighters and cover the sport.”
The Art of the Interview
Luckily for Helwani, his hard work paid off. Posting content and interviews with fighters surrounding combat sports drew the attention of a media group, which purchased Helwani’s website in less time than his six-month window.
“Interviewing is the thing I love to do the most,” noted Helwani. “I love interviewing combat sport fighters. All I wanted to do was show people different stuff about them.”
Helwani admitted he wasn’t gaining access to the biggest names in the sport at the time. What he was gaining was a library. After joining AOL Fanhouse and Versus in 2009, Helwani continued to expand on his interview skills, gaining better access to bigger fighters through the platform he represented.
A student of Howard Stern and Bob Costas, Helwani is a large proponent of the art of the interview. In his current role with Uncrowned, Helwani is a master of the science. Gaining insight and responses from fighters and personalities around combat sports that others simply can’t get.
“I feel very strongly about the art of interviewing. I think there’s a lot of people that are put in positions that are big spots that don’t do it correctly,” remarked Helwani.
He believes an interview is only as good as the preparedness of the interviewer, having a deep knowledge and understanding of the topics to be asked of the subject being interviewed. In addition, he says it “drives him nuts” when he sees interviewers with sheets of questions sitting in front of them. Helwani also notes the art of listening as a lost art in many interviews.
“A lot of these guys don’t listen. What I mean by listen is they’re dropping bombs that you aren’t expecting. Because you’re so set on your questions that you want to talk about, you’re missing follow ups,” explained Helwani. “I hate when interviewers make it about themselves. I hate when they give their anecdote and talk about their upbringing. It’s not about you; it’s never about you. It’s about them.”
Helwani says he finds inspiration in his contemporaries Dan Patrick, Larry King, and Dan Le Batard. He hopes to one day be considered in the same light as those he’s followed for his entire life.
“My goal is to be the best interviewer of all time. Not just sports interviewer. I don’t know if I’ll ever get there, but not just combat sports interviewer. I want to try to be the best interviewer of all time because I feel so strongly about it,” noted Helwani.
Becoming Uncrowned With Yahoo Sports
The term “Uncrowned” is the title of Helwani’s media group. Moreover, a label used for those who are considered great but never considered in the conversation of the greatest of all time. Helwani chose the term as inspiration for his independent brand and team of MMA reporters, creators, and journalists who he considered uncrowned champions of sports media.
“Howard [Stern] is the king of all media, and I felt like for better or worse. It’s not like I’m mad about it. But I feel like I’ve had a chip on my shoulder,” said Helwani about how he arrived at the creation of his Uncrowned media brand. “I’ve always felt like the uncrowned king of media. I feel I don’t get that respect and that attention. That trickles down to my colleagues. I would put them up with any sportswriters on the planet. I think they’re the best, and they don’t get that recognition.”
Helwani launched Uncrowned last year in a multi-year partnership with Yahoo Sports. The agreement saw The Ariel Helwani Show to be distributed across multiple platforms. As a result, this included a dedicated hub on the Yahoo Sports website and app. The partnership between Helwani and Yahoo Sports was brought about from Helwani’s relationship with Ryan Spoon, Yahoo Sports’ president who worked at ESPN when Helwani was with the network.
After serving witness to seeing what Bill Simmons, Dan Le Batard, and others who went independent with their own content and licensing it out, Helwani said he felt it was time to do that himself.
“We started Uncrowned, and we had several suitors. Ultimately what led me to Yahoo was they were also interested in the dot com component,” said Helwani. “They really believed in what I believe, which was there could be some great journalism to be had here. There wasn’t a home for it…What I love about it was we created like 25 jobs.”
Helwani holds a lot of pride in the quality of content that Uncrowned has presented through their partnership with Yahoo Sports, consistently making the webpage the top page for the main Yahoo Sports domain. He also noted that Yahoo Sports has never directed Helwani or anyone with Uncrowned on content, which is something he referenced didn’t happen in his previous stops.
“They [Yahoo Sports] told me this is the deal, and you go and we leave you alone. I’ve heard that before, and it didn’t come to fruition,” noted Helwani. “A year in, they [Yahoo Sports] never said a word to me about anything…. They have literally let us do our thing. The one thing they have done is support us with whatever we need.”
Moving On From ESPN
Following a very public leave in 2021 from ESPN, Helwani recalled his time covering the UFC with the network. At the time of Helwani’s arrival with ESPN, the UFC announced their own broadcasting rights partnership with the network. What seemed like perfect timing for Helwani to showcase his skill set with the new partner for the network was nothing of the sort.
Helwani said the UFC made it difficult for him to cover the sport with plenty of roadblocks thrown his way. Then he noted that ESPN attempted to shield him from those roadblocks, Helwani said that after three years with the network the work became “soulless.”
“I went there with my history with the UFC somewhat already intact. They [UFC] made it difficult on me,” noted Helwani. “To ESPN’s credit, they tried to shield me from a lot of it. I have no animosity toward ESPN whatsoever. They did their absolute best to shield me and tried to not let this get to me. Even after the three years, they offered me a new contract. It just had become so exhausting and soulless by the end that I felt it was time for me to leave. I don’t regret it.”
He said his childhood ambition was to work his way up to ESPN and be among the greats who make careers at the network. Albeit, Helwani called his leave from the network heartbreaking but also looked at it as an opportunity that elevated him to a new level in the industry.
At just 43 years old, Helwani feels he’s not anywhere close to what he considers making it in the industry. He considers his bucket list of a career just a hot cup of coffee compared to where he eventually wants to end up in the industry.
“If I was told that my career was over today, I would be very upset. I don’t feel like I’ve made it, not anywhere near making it,” explained Helwani. “I don’t feel like I’m stuck in the mud. I’m extremely grateful and appreciative. I’m also extremely motivated. I don’t think you should always use proving people wrong and chips on your shoulder as motivation. It’s definitely fueling the engine.”
A fire that began to burn so many years ago from an article in Sports Illustrated has now grown into a consistent inferno that continues to drive Helwani toward his life’s goal. Born with a fighter’s spirit and a desire to prove to people he is who he believes he is: the uncrowned king of combat sports journalism.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
