MMA journalist Ariel Helwani feels Dana White has a lot to answer for with his family after being caught on video hitting his wife.
White and his wife got into a physical altercation last weekend while celebrating New Year’s Eve at a party in Mexico. A verbal argument turned into a physical one when his wife hit him and White retaliated by striking her back.
White and his wife have since apologized to one another and claimed that this was an isolated incident during their decades-long relationship.
White and Helwani’s relationship has fallen apart over the years, most notably after UFC 199 when Helwani broke the news of Brock Lesnar’s return at UFC 200.
Helwani also claimed that White tried to prevent his employment at ESPN when the company got the UFC’s broadcasting rights. He’s since left ESPN and is back to hosting The MMA Hour and other programming.
Things got so personal between White and Helwani that White even took it upon himself to reference Helwani’s family, and more specifically his children, during the UFC 199 aftermath.
Ariel Helwani Blasts Dana White After Viral Incident With Wife
During a recent segment of The MMA Hour, Helwani gave his two cents on White’s recent physical altercation with his wife.
“I will say this: Of all the things Dana White has said about me, all the lies, all the insults, all the bulls*it, all the nonsense, all the mean, vitriolic, disgusting things he has said about me… Of all the things he’s said, there’s only been one that has stuck with me…that was back in 2016, that was after the UFC 199 incident, it was a couple of days after the unbanning,” Helwani began. “Dana was on UFC filtered with [Jim] Norton and [Matt] Serra, he was saying I was throwing a pity party for myself… in the interview, he was making fun of the fact that when I spoke about it on this show, I got very emotional.
“…in the interview with those guys, they were talking about me crying. He said something to the effect of, I looked like a wuss, and ‘Your kids are going to see that’… I could not believe he would go to that level. He would talk about my family, that has stuck with me since 2016… I have never forgotten it. So, on this day, I will raise the same freaking question that he raised about me in 2016.
“What’re your kids going to say about you?” Helwani continued. “What’re your kids going to say about your legacy? The way you treat fighters, the way you treat people. About your business practices? What are your kids going to say about that video? What’re your kids going to say about the kind of person you are? What’re your kids going to say about you? Ask yourself that f*cking question.”
Just weeks ago, White and UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett unleashed personal attacks on Helwani during a podcast episode. The two sides went back and forth, including Helwani denying White and Pimblett’s claims with evidence.
Helwani also made note that in 2014, White claimed that men never bounce back from hitting a woman. Due to these past remarks, Helwani questions White’s eligibility to “bounce back” himself after striking his wife.
All quotes from BJPenn.com