Things got a little heated between welterweight standouts Joaquin Buckley and Ariel Helwani during Monday's episode of The MMA Hour.
Fresh off his second-round KO of Vicente Luque at UFC Atlantic City, “New Mantha” appeared on Helwani's show to talk about his big win and what's next.
Along the way, Buckley called out Helwani and accused the multi-award-winning journalist of using too many questions to weaponize fighters against the UFC.
“You've been in this business a long time,” Buckley began. “Obviously you respect what you do and you do it very well. When you appear on the show, I feel like you're trying to use us as a weapon against the UFC, right?
“You're using your platform, but when that conversation or what you're about to say could get us into trouble, try to subtly provoke us by asking specific questions.” I am.”
Ariel Helwani responds to Joaquin Buckley's accusations
Helwani quickly disagreed with Buckley's statement, responding respectfully:
“Honestly, I disagree. I've been doing this show since 2009. Do you think I'm trying to make fighters look bad? Even though I've been doing this job for 15 years. , I love fighters and I respect fighters, so I want to give them the opportunity to tell their stories and learn more.
“I want to learn more, and I hope others will listen to you and learn more. I'm not trying to weaponize anything. It's crazy, and I'm not trying to weaponize anything. If you do, you will waste your life.”
Mr. Helwani went on to ask Mr. Buckley for a specific example. At that point, Buckley quickly ended the interview by saying, “It's over,” putting an end to the awkward incident.
You can watch Joaquin Buckley's full appearance on The MMA Hour by jumping to the 33-minute mark in the embedded below.
