Ariel Helwani: UK press asked Dana White better questions than six years of UFC media

Helwani praised the British boxing media for pressing White on Fury vs Joshua, and said he was told Joshua's contract names Zuffa Boxing, not White himself.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Mon 28 Sept, 19:19 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Graphic: Ariel Helwani on the UK press — Original graphic: Combat Sports UK

Ariel Helwani has praised the British boxing media for the way they questioned Dana White at the Zuffa Boxing 11 press conference in London on Saturday, and contrasted them with the reporters who attend UFC events.

"The media on Saturday, if you watched, was really on point. They did a phenomenal job... they weren't afraid to keep asking, to ask follow-ups, to not back down, to not get blindsided or distracted by Dana's tactics of not answering questions," Helwani said on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday. "They probably asked better questions in that 17-minute press conference than the questions that we've heard in the last six years of UFC press conferences."

He was critical of the UFC's own press rooms. "The media that show up to these UFC press conferences aren't the best of us... the vast majority of the best MMA media members don't go to these press conferences," he said. "So you're comparing yourself to, like, you know, sycophant, bootlicker content creators. Not all of them, but the vast majority of them." Reporters who do ask hard questions there, he said, "get their hands slapped".

At that press conference, White said he did not know whether Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua would happen, and that he did not negotiate the Cardiff deal: White doesn't know if Fury vs Joshua will happen and White did not negotiate the Cardiff deal.

Helwani also gave his read of the standoff. Eddie Hearn's contract for Joshua says "Zuffa Boxing cannot be involved, cannot be promoter of the event", he said. "What I was told was, it does not explicitly say Dana White. And that's an issue." Hearn does not want White involved while Turki Alalshikh does, Helwani said, adding: "Dana can't just muscle his way into making a fight."

The show then played a December 2016 clip of White saying: "But honor your deal. I have to honor all my deals. Imagine if I didn't honor a deal. You guys would be f*cking all over me, man." Helwani asked: "Is Dana trying to get him to not honor his deal? Because that's what it seems like to me."

On the same show, Helwani turned on The Ring's Mike Coppinger: Helwani on Coppinger.