Last week on his podcast, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan shared an interesting story of how Ariel Helwani was allegedly warned to break the news of Brock Lesnar's return at UFC 200 before he got banned. Helwani eventually went on to break the news and as a result got barred for life from all UFC live events right before the main event of UFC 199.
However, during the latest episode of The MMA Hour, the recently reprieved reporter clarified in distinct words that Rogan's statement's were in fact not true.
"I don't really feel I need to address the Joe Rogan conspiracy theory, 'cause that's all it is," Helwani explained. "I tweeted it was 1,000 percent inaccurate. No one told me not to report anything, no one told me that if I did report something, people would lose their jobs. It's obvious where that is coming from, and I'd wish that, given his platform and his reach, that... you know, some people wrote back to me and were saying, 'Joe didn't speak to you.' Well then that's irresponsible. You're talking about something now that you don't know and you're getting only one side of the story. And it's a very sensitive thing and it involves my career. And when trust and respect and confidence are very important things, it's very damaging when you come out with things like that.
"No one ever gave me that warning, and I didn't leak anything, and I certainly don't have any moles. I have not planted anything or anyone in the company to find out this information, and I haven't gotten this information unethically or illegally. All that stuff, I can assure you, you can throw it all out the window, it's a lie. And I know other people are trying to hold the UFC's water by throwing this out there, and it's ridiculous. Quite frankly: You're just making yourself look worse when you're putting this out there, so stop it. Move on, it's over."
Helwani's ban (along with all of MMAFighting) was lifted by the UFC only days after it was imposed, after an outcry from media outlets and fan communities. He will go on covering UFC live events as before.
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