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More than five years after the UFC banned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani from covering their events for revealing information about Brock Lesnar's surprise return at UFC 200, the incident has been brought up again, thanks to podcaster and former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub.
Brendan Schaub spoke about Ariel Helwani's UFC ban on his podcast Below the Belt based on certain statements UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan made at the time. The rumor that Ariel Helwani had betrayed the trust of the promotion and outed top-secret information that was shared with him in confidentiality was first floated by Joe Rogan after the incident took place.
Speaking to UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling on the latest episode of The MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani slammed both Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub for making statements about him that were false and could potentially harm his reputation and career.
Ariel Helwani set the record straight yet again, dismissing the claim that he had revealed any "off the record" information to the public.
"What Joe Rogan had spewed is 1000% false. What Brendan Schaub has then paraded is 1000% false. Joe Rogan sources Dana White, Brendan sources Joe Rogan. I think you know me long enough... if someone tells me something off the record, and I am sure you have told me things off the record, if I go out and report it, I should be done. There is no way I would practice that kind of journalism and still be here thirteen years later. If you tell me something in confidence and I report it, I should never be talking to you again. I should be outlawed. I should be banned from covering the sport - any promotion." Ariel Helwani said.
Ariel Helwani then went on to take shots at Rogan and Schaub for being irresponsible about what they were saying on their platform.
Ariel Helwani addressed Brendan Schaub's comments separately on The MMA Hour as well.
Watch the video below:
What did Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub say about Ariel Helwani?
Joe Rogan claimed in June 2016 after the ban on Ariel Helwani was announced that the UFC suspected a mole was revealing scoops of inside news to the journalist, harming the interest of the promotion.
Bringing up the journalist's recent exit from ESPN and what he shared about his relationship with Dana White a few weeks ago on The Dan LeBatard Show, Brendan Schaub claimed that he had heard from "a million people" that Ariel Helwani was extremely difficult to work with.
Helwani addressed the statement on The MMA Hour and revealed that Schaub had since apologized to him for his comments. However, Helwani also noted that Schaub needed to apologise on his podcast as the accusations were first made on a public forum.
