Ariel Helwani has worn many hats as the king of combat sports media, hosting livestreams, breaking news, and writing columns. What the veteran reporter loves most, though, is interviewing.
Now at Yahoo, Helwani hosts a daily live show covering boxing, MMA, and any other corner of the combat sports world that catches his attention. A steady stream of wrestlers, fighters and promoters come through Helwani’s studio on a daily basis, making his show must-see content for fight fans.
When they listen, Helwani hopes that they learn something new about the fighter and see them more as a whole person than they may have before. To get these juicy viral answers, Helwani spends significant time honing his craft as an interviewer.
In a recent interview with Barrett Media, Helwani did not shy away from criticizing the industry broadly for falling short in big sports moments with top stars.
“I think there’s a lot of people that are put in positions that are big spots that don’t do it correctly,” Helwani said.
The Yahoo host explained that what separates the best interviewers in sports media is that they fully turn over the conversation to the athlete.
“A lot of these guys don’t listen. What I mean by listen is (athletes are) dropping bombs that you aren’t expecting. Because you’re so set on your questions that you want to talk about, you’re missing follow ups,” Helwani added. “I hate when interviewers make it about themselves. I hate when they give their anecdote and talk about their upbringing. It’s not about you. It’s never about you. It’s about them.”
There are a select few hosts that Helwani studies in order to be a more gracious interviewer and a more keen listener. Helwani told Barrett that his list includes Howard Stern, Bob Costas, Larry King, Dan Le Batard and Dan Patrick.
While maintaining a healthy respect for his idols in the business, Helwani still aspires to be the best ever.
“My goal is to be the best interviewer of all time. Not just sports interviewer,” Helwani told Barrett. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get there, but not just combat sports interviewer. I want to try to be the best interviewer of all time because I feel so strongly about it.”
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.