Ariel Helwani has leapt to the defence of Luke Rockhold after a certain someone decided to savagely mock the former UFC champion following his recent retirement.
Jake Paul, of all people, had the sheer audacity to question Rockhold's skill and ability during his swan-song bout against Paulo Costa at UFC 278.
In fact, Paul called the middleweight duo 'dog s**t' before claiming 'they did nothing for this sport'.
Rockhold well and truly went out on his shield over the weekend.
Clearly struggling with the altitude in Salt Lake City, the 37-year-old looked gassed early into the scrap and was seen with his hand on his knees mid-fight.
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But that didn't stop him from producing a very gutsy performance and even landed a few blows which could have switched his rival's lights off at any second.
Then, of course, there was that savage moment where he rubbed his bloody face all over Costa while they were on the ground – very, very gross but still box office entertainment.
But it seems not everyone was impressed.
After MMA reporter Ariel Helwani tweeted an emoji of a brain explosion in the wake of the bout, Jake Paul responded.
JP: Dog s**t Ariel.
AH: Why? Incredible heart.
JP: These people are paid for skill and that was dog s**t.
AH: Couldn’t disagree more. Luke is a legend. Respect to him.
JP: Imagine me on my knees begging for air in my fights… what would people say? Im a legend... lol no they’d call me a YouTuber … YALL are sick and twisted with your favouritism and delusion.
AH: Luke has been doing this for over a decade. He hasn’t fought for 3+ years. He almost had his leg amputated. Broke his jaw in his last fight. This has nothing to do with you. I’ve never said that about you. If you can’t respect what that man just overcame I don’t know what to say.
JP: Boo Hoo Ariel every athlete has excuses. Does he want a binky? Fighting is the only sport where people listen to excuses.. in other sports your CUT and never talked about.. He also didn’t over come anything? He lost... go home…
AH: Disappointing to hear this from you. You either care about the pioneers who paved the way for people your age to fight or you don’t. Nothing embarrassing about that fight. Only thing I saw was two guys who refused to quit and left it all out there. Infinite respect to them.
JP: Luke Rick hold and Paulo as pioneers?? Lol you must be drunk… They did nothing for this sport. Tf are you saying?! Goodnight bro.
AH: Yes, a Strikeforce and UFC champ who has been a pro pre-2010 is a pioneer.
Schooled.
Judging by the other comments, it seems most social media users were siding with Ariel on this one.
Even by his own admission, Helwani has been an advocate of Paul's work in the past, but even he knew Paul was firmly in the wrong.
By the journalist wasn't done there.
Appearing on his show The MMA Hour, Helwani sent a personal message to Paul, saying "shame on you".
Topics: Australia, MMA, UFC, Ariel Helwani, Jake Paul
Max Sherry