Vigilante MMA

Meet Ariel Helwani, hands-down the best pound-for-pound MMA journalist in the world.  Ariel was gracious enough to grant VigilanteMMA an exclusive interview, where we discussed everything from how the Montreal Expos jump-started his interest in MMA, why he was talking to Bruce Buffer back in college, his interviewing philosophy and why MMA fighters make for the best interviews.  Intrigued?  If so, keep reading to find out how the #1 MMA interviewer in the world holds up, when VigilanteMMA asks all the tough questions! 

VigilanteMMA:  Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us.  We’re big fans of your work and it’s a real pleasure speaking to you.

Ariel Helwani:  Thank you, I appreciate it.

VigilanteMMA:  It’s obvious from your work that you know MMA inside and out. How did your passion for MMA begin?

Ariel Helwani:  Well, I was actually a fan of MMA when I saw UFC 1, and I know a lot of people say that, but I really did see it.  I’ve always been a really big combat sports fan.  I love pro wrestling and I love boxing.  My uncle, which a lot of people might not know, competed in the 1976 Olympics in Judo representing Lebanon, so I feel as though combat sports were sort of always in my blood.  I remember watching UFC 1 and thinking it was like real pro wrestling and that got me really excited, since I was a big pro wrestling fan already. 

VigilanteMMA:  Very cool.  So let’s talk about the other piece to your daytime job, that being a broadcaster/journalist.  Have you always wanted to be a broadcaster?

Ariel Helwani:  I’ve wanted to be a broadcaster since my early days of high school.  Soon after I remember reading a Sports Illustrated where they ranked the best schools for everything, and they wrote that Syracuse University was the best school for broadcasting.  Guys like Bob Costas and Marv Albert went there so I decided I wanted to go there too and be a sports broadcaster.  And while there I remember sitting in my dorm one day watching the Best Damn Sports Show Period and Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock came on and I thought it was great that they were covering the UFC. Then a light kind of came on in my head.  I see all of these kids at school wanting to be sports broadcasters covering the NFL, NBA, MLB, so I thought maybe I could go a different route.  I thought maybe I could be an MMA journalist.  So I always had that in the back of my mind. 

VigilanteMMA:  So after you made that decision, how did you keep yourself involved with MMA during college?  Did you know back then that MMA was going to get as big as it is today?

Ariel Helwani:  Believe it or not, I actually had an MMA/Pro wrestling radio show in college.  It was on Sat. morning at 7 am if you can believe that.  So when everyone else was out partying Friday night, I was doing research on Dan Severn and King Kong Bundy who were my guests the next day.  I wasn’t exactly the coolest kid on the block but it was what I wanted to do, I loved it.  Even Bruce Buffer, who I now talk to all the time at events, would come on before the Pay Per Views and preview them with me.  I’ve had Dave Meltzer come on, now Dave Meltzer is having me on his show, it’s mind blowing stuff.  Anyway, once I started seeing MMA get a little more recognition, again seeing it covered on The Best Damn Sports Show Period and Fox Sports, I thought that was a major turning point for the UFC.  I then started to realize that this thing wasn’t going away, that it wasn’t some fad. 

VigilanteMMA:  I would imagine saying to your classmates, “hey I’m going to cover MMA” had to draw some double takes. 

Ariel Helwani:  I’ve always been an underdog.  I’ve always been someone who likes to root for things that are different.  You know, even if everyone was rooting for the Syracuse teams, I’d be rooting for the other school, just for the heck of it.  So MMA to me was like the underdog.  So all these other kids wanting to be the next “suit guy” on ESPN, they started pissing me off, so I went in the opposite direction and followed something else.  And I’m happy that I’m a part of this community that is still growing every day and I can be a part of it and grow with it as well with my career. 

VigilanteMMA:  So does your affinity for underdogs explain why you’re a Montreal Expos fan, or was that just proximity?

Ariel Helwani:  No, no.  Maybe a bit of both.  The Expos obviously were the hometown team so I did follow them, but I actually became more of an Expo’s fan after around 2000 when people really stopped caring about them and that’s when I was like “OK, everyone is jumping out of the bandwagon so to speak, so I’m going to start driving this thing.”  It’s funny you know, because the demise of the Expos and my interest in MMA are very much related because once the Expos left I became this very bitter sports fan.  It’s one thing to lose your favorite player but to lose your favorite team, to have it cease to exist, is a very tough thing to go through as a sports fan.   So after that, team sports just weren’t doing it for me.  And like with MMA, even though your favorite fighter may lose every now and again, there’s always great fights and things to look forward to, so that even drove me to be more interested in MMA.  It’s weird how it all worked out.  There’s just something about “mano y mano” you know, two guys going at it…especially when you know about them and you get to learn a bit of their history and the quote/unquote storyline going into the fight.  Nothing compares to it in my opinion.

VigilanteMMA:  Yes exactly.  And given your proximity to the fighters through your interviews, how do you walk that line between being a responsible journalist and asking the “hard-hitting questions” while also being sensitive to a fighter’s situation?    

Ariel Helwani:  I really try not to think about it too much.  I just try to be, to put it as simply as possible, just a human being.  You see a guy who clearly is down and upset over losing in heartbreaking fashion or not living up to expectations, and you’re just going to have to be a delicate human being and still try to stay true to yourself and ask the questions. You still have to do your job, but on the flip side, you want these people to come back to you and you want them to feel comfortable in talking to you.  I believe in building relationships; not trying to ambush anyone and not try to make anyone feel worse or put them on the spot in their moment of vulnerability.  If you do it in a classy and professional way I think they recognize that you’re doing your job.

VigilanteMMA:  So when you’re interviewing the fighters, how long does that process take? 

Ariel Helwani:  When I do the pre and post fight interviews, and not a lot of people know this, there’s a lot of stuff going on around us.  You don’t have the time to sit and talk for 25 minutes. You really need to go in there and get in and get out.  You don’t want to take up their time because the next time they see you they’re going to be like “Oh god, now I have to stand here for 10 minutes and do this long interview.”  I have to ask as many relevant questions as I can (in a short period of time).  And then you read after, people are like “Oh why didn’t you ask this or do this or follow-up with this?”  You don’t have that much time to start debating.  Particularly when I interview Dana, this comes up.  Especially with a guy like that, you kind of have to get in and get out so it’s kind of a trick.  But I hope in the five, six-minute interviews, you get a good enough sense for their personality, what their mindset’s like.  It’s a fun sort of challenge. 

VigilanteMMA: You’re the Lyoto Machida of interviews—in and out.

Ariel Helwani:  Exactly!  In and out.

VigilanteMMA:  As a sports journalist that’s covered both MMA and other sports, have you noticed anything in particular about MMA athletes that make them a unique interview?

Ariel Helwani:  I really feel so lucky because I feel that most of the guys in MMA are very interesting.  I’ve had a chance to cover other sports and you get to talk to these billionaire athletes and you hear them just going through the motions and you get a feeling they don’t like talking to the media, but MMA fighters really want to talk you know, they’re very excited, they have stories to tell, they want to promote themselves.  It just makes for a more enjoyable experience as a journalist when you have guys that actually want to talk to the media. 

VigilanteMMA:  Let’s switch gears a bit and discuss a topic that’s on everyone’s mind, the dominance of wrestling in MMA.  Love it or hate it, it seems that everyone has a strong opinion.  What’s yours?

Ariel Helwani:  Basically, there are 2 real arguments you could put out there.  A. This is entertainment and I understand when fans are upset when the fights aren’t entertaining.  On the flip-side this is a sport, and we’re not here to play around with things.  The reality is, there are sometimes going to be boring fights.  I mean, you have boring football games, boring basketball games, all that stuff.  That just happens when you’re dealing with a real sport.  At the end of the day I’d say to fighters, if you really don’t like it, learn how to deal with it.  The bottom line is, if this sport wants to be respected by the rest of the sport’s community, you have to let it be what it is. 

VigilanteMMA:  Your name has become synonymous with high quality MMA reporting.  Why should fans start, or continue, to come to MMAFighting for the latest in MMA news?  What are you guys doing that separates yourself from the rest of the pack?

Ariel Helwani:  Well, I’m biased, but I honestly think that MMA Fighting is the best MMA site out there for a few reasons.  First, I think they’ve assembled a pretty amazing group of MMA journalists, guys like Ben Fowlkes, Mike Chiappetta, Michael David Smith, Matt Erickson, Ray Hui, who’s more like a writer/editor, and what’s great about our group is that everyone brings something different to the table.  I’m more of the multi-media type of guy, you know with the videos and the MMA Hour and when you couple that with the fact that we have Esther Lin covering all the events with us, we’re giving you photos from all the events, all the videos, and now with the MMA Hour, which is now on 2 times a week, Mondays and Thursdays at 1 EST and then you got all the articles, the breaking news, good analysis, live broadcasts…what more can you ask?  I just think that the powers that be at AOL put together a really amazing team.  And honestly, I like going to my site just to see what the other guys are doing including all the other great sites out there.  I don’t believe in this competition thing, and that’s just the way it is in any work place but I love all the other sites out there.  I just think ours is a little better. 

VigilanteMMA:  And there you have it!  We know you’re a very busy man so we’ll say good-bye at this point.  Thank you for being so candid and open with us.  You’re a welcome guest any time.   

Ariel Helwani:  Thanks guys.  My pleasure. 

For all the latest in MMA news and exclusive interviews, make sure you check our Ariel on www.mmafighting.com and on TV on Versus with The Daily Line. 

Follow Ariel Helwani on Twitter at @arielhelwani.