Until 2016, Dana White and Ariel Helwani shared a friendly relationship with one another. The UFC CEO would often send Helwani constant texts in excitement during Chiefs and Patriots’ games. Helwani enjoyed his time with White, but fast-forward to 2025, and their relationship is now “nonexistent.” What started as mutual respect gradually turned into hostility, with Lorenzo Fertitta seemingly at the center of the chaos.

While having a conversation with UFC fighter Bo Nickal, Ariel Helwani asserted that he had a good relationship with UFC CEO Dana White but his way of journalism was never liked by then-partner Lorenzo Fertitta, who might have intervened between Helwani and White. Providing a timeline, the renowned journalist asserted that his friendship with Dana White began to change course by 2016. ” It started to fizzle out because it wasn’t actually because of Dana White; it was more because of Lorenzo Fertitta,” said Helwani.

He further added, “I was working for Fox while doing my show, The MMA Hour, and Fox was a broadcast partner of the UFC. Lorenzo didn’t like that when I would go on The MMA Hour, I would talk about things like Bellator, revenue sharing, or fighter contracts—all things that I consider to be just a part of sports talk radio that you hear in the NFL and NBA. But they were very much like, ‘You’re either with us or against us.'”

Ariel Helwani revealed that back in 2016, when Rory MacDonald appeared on his show, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the contract extension that the UFC had offered him. The Canadian fighter emphasized that he would fight out his deal and take on Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson that June. The interview was an eye-opener for many UFC fighters, who were also dissatisfied with the contracts. As the ripples transitioned to waves, Helwani received a call from his boss at Fox, delivering unexpected news—he was being let go.

When Helwani asked for a specific reason for his witch-hunt, his boss told him that the UFC upper management was not happy with the way he covered all of the news. Helwani further added, “That was devastating. When that happened, I was very hurt. I had never done anything bad, illegal, or unethical, nor had I ever gotten a story wrong. I didn’t feel like it was fair, if I’m being honest. So, I went on a rampage.”

Despite having a rather close relationship with Dana White, Ariel Helwani had to suffer a bit after being relieved from his duties but he did make an amazing comeback. But that was not without a heavy cost.

Ariel Helwani broke Brock Lesnar’s comeback derailing Dana White’s plans

After Fox severed ties with Ariel Helwani, the journalist made sure to showcase his relevance and build a strong personal brand. He went on a relentless pursuit, doing everything possible to establish himself as a leading figure in MMA journalism. The year 2016 became the defining moment of his career, solidifying his status as a credible news source but also completely severing his ties with the UFC.

“It all came to a head when I reported that Brock Lesnar was coming back. The UFC was very unhappy about this. They thought that I had ruined the surprise,” Ariel Helwani added. “[They thought] that I got the information from some weird way. It was not that. It was a couple of people [who] told me, I looked into it and I did sports journalism… That’s when they banned me in 2016, UFC 199.”

Well, the ban didn’t last long, as the UFC revoked it, allowing Ariel Helwani to attend every event until UFC 248. However, COVID-19 and his deal with ESPN prevented him from covering live UFC events. Since then, the journalist has focused on podcasts. Helwani and Dana White remain at odds to this day. What are your thoughts on their soured relationship? Share your thoughts in the comments below!