“He once talked to us about neo-Nazism and all that,” Sean Strickland BLASTING ‘woke’ Canadian journalist doesn’t sit well with Ariel Helwani

Sean Strickland is one of the most infamously unfiltered combatants of the combat sports bubble. Likewise, MMA Hour’s Ariel Helwani is one of the topmost MMA journos not afraid to delve into the grave subjects. Concurrently, now Helwani has shifted focus on ‘Tarzan’ and his unhinged rant on the UFC 297 pre-fight face-off day. Strickland had ripped ‘LGBTQ ally’ reporter, MMA Fighting’s combat sports journalist Alexander K. Lee for a hypothetical question. Strickland’s bashing took an ugly turn with him berating the supposed ‘woke’ reporter, Helwani’s peer.

Strickland, recently lost out his middleweight gold to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297’s main event, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Speaking on the affair, Helwani recently spoke about the bashful insults hurled at MMA Fighting’s K. Lee. Dana White and Co. had defended the fighter’s Anti-LGTBQ rants, nudging that he was baited. For which the top honcho faced ‘hypocrisy’ allegations after blasting a reporter himself. Here’s how Helwani considers the matter –

Baiting someone is you're trying to twist their words...It was just a simple, like, 'You said this. Do you still believe this way?' That, to me, isn't baiting...That's just asking, okay you are evolved as a person - talk to us...about the evolution of your personality...what you've been through...he once talked to us about neo-nazism and all that, so I think that's a very fair question.

Ariel Helwani via the MMA Hour

Helwani reiterated that Lee was simply asking about a past comment Strickland made. In addition, Helwani alluded to Strickland’s confessed neo-Nazi past. He implied that ‘Tarzan’ was no stranger to open discussion of sensitive issues. The undertone was that the fighter was in the wrong with his overt outburst.

And he isn’t the only one. In the aftermath of UFC 297, new women’s UFC bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington berated Strickland’s ‘disgusting’ commentary as a reflection of his true self. Pennington is betrothed to UFC strawweight Tecia Torres; so naturally such a topic hit her closer to home than ever.

Ariel Helwani speaks on potential Israel Adesanya vs. Dricus Du Plessis bout, for UFC 300

Sean Strickland recently lost out his 185lbs gold to Dricus Du Plessis, at UFC 297. The South African phenom edged out Strickland with a split decision, bagging the middleweight title. Soon after, the fighter hinted at a possible turnaround for the historic UFC 300 card.

Additionally, he has also set the stage for a ‘real African fight’ with former rival Israel Adesanya. Adesanya later responded to the callout on his official YouTube channel.

Now, check out what MMA’s op journo Ariel Helwani thinks about such a possibility, speaking on his podcast –

The duo has a long-standing beef. Adesanya was cage-side at UFC 290, where Du Plessis finished Robert Whittaker against all odds. The former entered the cage later to face off with Du Plessis; the interaction that followed now boasts a top spot as one of the most hyped face-offs of 2023.

Only time will tell if their age-old rivalry can materialize into a maiden defense for Du Plessis. Adesanya, on the other hand, would like a way back to a title win.

In case you missed it:

• “Free speech, brother. People can say whatever they want!” Dana White FLAMES reporter grilling him about homophobic rant of Sean Strickland
• “What a reign though,” Israel Adesanya and team SAVAGELY troll Sean Strickland’s ‘zero title defense’ championship reign

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