MMA journalist Ariel Helwani is known as one of the most influential media personalities in the sport, interviewing countless fighters on his show, The MMA Hour. However, it seems like he will likely not be able to get former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill on his show ever again after Hill blasted Helwani in a YouTube video on Wednesday.
This drama stems from Helwani interviewing fellow UFC light heavyweight contender Jiri Prochazka on Monday, who was scheduled to fight Hill for the light heavyweight championship before Hill suffered an injury that caused him to relinquish the belt.
Helwani and Prochazka discussed Hill’s injury on the show. Helwani made it a point to praise Procházka for his initial response to the news of Hill’s injury while insinuating that Hill didn’t handle it either.
“I thought the way you handled it said a lot about you,” Helwani said to Prochazka. “Because the last few months, he was insinuating that you were taking too long. That you were afraid, all this nonsense.”
Hill took notice of these comments from Helwani and reacted with a sixteen-minute YouTube video that largely calls out Helwani for playing favorites in his eyes.
“Ariel (Helwani) and Jiri (Prochazka) got together last night and had an interview,” said Hill on Champ Chat Podcast. “As a lot of you have already seen, Ariel’s dirty, sneaky tactics that he likes to use to get over on fighters. And he does this all the time, just completely being a punk, and doesn’t own up to any of it. You have an agenda or a problem against me for whatever reason. Every chance you get, you are taking shots at me. These are blatantly just shots.”
Helwani responded to the video, saying that Hill’s opinion on this matter is “very wrong.” He also invited Hill to return to the MMA Hour so the two could talk about their differences.
Ariel Helwani responds to Jamahal Hill#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/nThPdkpeUT
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) August 2, 2023
Based on Hill’s comments, the chances of seeing him on Helwani’s show any time soon despite this invitation seem slim to none…
[Champ Chat Podcast with Jamahal Hill on YouTube]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.