UFC Welterweight Joaquin Buckley made his thoughts clear on MMA media and Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour on Monday.
Joaquin Buckley (18-6-0) picked up a TKO win against Welterweight Vincente Luque at UFC Fight Night Atlantic city on Saturday. Buckley moved to 170lbs after struggling to stay consistent in at middleweight. The decision to join the Welterweight division has proved a success currently riding a three-fight win streak.
Buckley admits this win is the biggest of his career but is unhappy with claims the fight was “rigged”. Joaquin thinks his opponent “quit” instead of defending himself against the barrage of ground and pound brought on by Buckley.
Joaquin Buckley Scalds Ariel Helwani for “Using” Fighters
Despite emerging victorious at the weekend Joaquin took a different approach to his interview with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour. Instead of celebrating his victory, he lashed out at long-time MMA journalist Helwani for using fighters “as a weapon against the UFC”. Buckley admitted he respects Helwani for having “his facts right” but believes the MMA Hour host has ill intentions when bringing fighters on the show.
“I respect what you do and you do it very well… But me personally I feel like when we come on your show. You try to use us as a weapon against the UFC. [You] use your platform to set us up. Asking questions with fighters that [Helwani] already know that what we talk about could get us in trouble with [The UFC].”
Ariel Helwani was quick to shootdown the claims of wrongdoing asking Buckley to “give an example” with the claims. Helwani said:
“For 15 years I’ve been doing the show I have the fighters on because I love the Fighters…I’m not trying to weaponise anything… The UFC is much bigger than me”.
Helwani & the UFC
Five-time MMA Journalist of the Year award winner Ariel Helwani has been covering MMA since 2006. His success can be somewhat accredited to the virality of his iconic quotes producing interviews with Rampage Jackson, and the Diaz Brothers.
Ariel’s loose lips have got him in trouble in the past with more than just fighters. UFC president Dana white banned the journalist from attending any UFC event in 2016. This came after White alleged that the surprise return of Brock Lesnar at UFC 200 was leaked by Ariel Helwani.
Helwani is outspoken in his resentment of the UFC’s “unfair” fighter pay and often asks his guests how much they’re paid. Though he states this is out of respect for the fighters many believe it is a dig at the company.
Discussion of fighter pay and his UFC ban may be the cause of Buckley’s opinion on Ariel Helwani. It’s hard to decipher whether Ariel is just doing his job asking hard-hitting questions or whether there’s an undertone of animosity to his reporting.
Featured image credit to Embed from Getty Images
