In a recent episode of The MMA Hour, emotions flared as welterweight sensation Joaquin Buckley engaged in a spirited exchange with renowned journalist Ariel Helwani.
Following his impressive victory over Vicente Luque at UFC Atlantic City, Joaquin Buckley joined Helwani’s show to talk about his win and future prospects. However, what ensued was a candid dialogue that veered into unexpected territory.
Expressing his views candidly, Buckley confronted Helwani. He alleged that the seasoned journalist employed loaded questions to pit competitors against the UFC.
Buckley remarked, “You’ve been in the business for a long time. Obviously, you have respect for what you do and you do it very well. You’ve got a lot of facts about the UFC and different fighters, but personally, I feel like when we come on your show, you try to use us as a weapon against the UFC, right?”
“You use your platform, but you try to set us up lowkey with certain questions when those conversations and what you’re trying to talk about could get us in trouble.”
Helwani swiftly countered Buckley’s assertions, emphasizing his longstanding commitment to the sport and its athletes.
Dismissing the notion of deliberate manipulation, Helwani asserted: “Honestly, I don’t agree. I’ve been doing this show since 2009. You think I’m trying to make the fighters look bad? I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I have the fighters on because I love the fighters and respect the fighters and I want to give them an opportunity to tell their story and be able to learn more.”
“I want to learn more and I hope that other people learn more when they hear from you guys. I’m not trying to weaponize anything. That would be crazy and I would be wasting my life doing anything like that.”
Helwani continued by requesting particular instances from Buckley. At that moment, Buckley abruptly announced that he was ‘through’ and left the interview, ending the embarrassing exchange.