The Ariel Helwani Show

Ariel Helwani kicks off the show by recapping his experience — alongside The Boys in the Back — at WWE’s Monday Night Raw and Smackdown tapings (02:04).
Then, the crew covers news and notes including Carlos Prates’ strong words for Islam Makhachev, Dan Hooker feeling that Charles Oliveira and UFC ruined the BMF title, and more (12:35).
Alycia Baumgardner joins ahead of her Sunday fight against Elif Nur Turhan, talking about moving up in weight, how the fight came together, feeling that Caroline Dubois made excuses not to face her, skills she’s been sharpening since her last fight, respecting Nur Turhan’s title reign, her altercation with Claressa Shields, Amanda Serrano’s retirement, and more (31:30).
Ariel discusses Netflix producing a Dana White documentary, Ilia Topuria posting about his return, Sean Strickland playing basketball, Fedor Emelianenko saying he wants to fight Francis Ngannou, and more (1:01:46).
Paulie Malignaggi and Victor Ortiz join for a face-to-face ahead of their BKB 62 fight, talking about the history between the two, how the bout came together, and how they expect the fight to go. Plus, Malignaggi touches on his rivalry with Manny Pacquiao, a potential fight against Tony Ferguson, his distaste for MMA fans, and more (1:18:28).
Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani talks about already making a splash in the UFC in a short amount of time, being chronically online and his references to MMA memes, his childhood martial arts journey, his sister’s martial art experience, training with Conor McGregor, his father training Royce Gracie, his "Mufasa" nickname, his callout of Jake Matthews, and more (1:53:28).
Ariel and crew discuss Edson Barboza and Michel Pereira returning to action, Conor McGregor partying in Italy, and more (2:33:04).
After previewing some upcoming events from around the entertainment world (2:45:03), Ariel answers your Super Chats to close the show (03:02:07).

Solomonster reacts to the big creative shakeup coming soon to WWE with Bruce Prichard retiring and Shawn Michaels taking over his role, with AJ Styles said to be stepping into a key role within NXT (02:49).
Thoughts on Conrad Thompson’s reveal that Vince Russo and Nick Khan had discussions about a potential WWE creative return for Russo and why this would have been an absolute dumpster fire (19:05).
Monday Night Raw fallout including details on the John Cena Classic, two Raw shows in one day — one from Australia and one from Disneyworld — plus another new addition to the 946 heading into War Games (28:53).
Reacting to Mark Shapiro’s comments from a TKO town hall on their Crown Jewel show in Riyadh this weekend, plus predicting the winners and losers from the PLE (53:43).
AEW Blood and Guts predictions, as the Full Gear card comes into greater focus, plus news from New Japan's latest show and all the AEW talent now confirmed for the Tokyo Dome in January (1:06:35).
News on two executive-level MLW departures, including one Hollywood name, and Tammy Sytch making one last ditch attempt to get out of prison (1:16:15).

Ariel Helwani kicks off the show by reacting to breaking news that Cedric Doumbe is taking on Jake Paul in a cruiserweight boxing match (07:12).
Darren Till jumps on to react to the Jake Paul fight announcement, talking about his own negotiations for the fight, his thoughts on Doumbe getting the opportunity, other promotions reaching out following the news, John Fury asking him to apologize to Tommy, when he plans to return, wanting to headline BKFC at Anfield, home of Liverpool Football Club, and more (35:13).
Jacobe Smith makes his show debut to recap his big win over Randy Brown, discussing personal adversity he had to overcome during training camp, Daniel Cormier’s mentorship and impact on his MMA journey, his decorated athletic career, his turbulent upbringing, why he wants to fight Kevin Holland, and more (1:05:26).
Ariel and the Boys in the Back recap UFC Vegas 123, focusing on referee Dan Miragliotta controversially standing Renato Moicano up from back control (1:37:18).
Then, Renato Moicano joins to talk about the controversial moment, his reluctance to make excuses, what Tom Nolan did to prevent submissions and why he deserves credit, wanting to see fighters be paid a higher flat fee rather than the show and win model, why he won’t appeal the decision, wanting to go into influencer boxing after his UFC career, the incredible success of his YouTube channels, and more (1:59:14).
Referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy weighs in on the Moicano controversy, breaking down the factors to consider when standing up fighters, how to treat dominant positions like back control, ways to mitigate inactivity, whether boos can affect referees’ decision-making, how much officials typically earn, why he hasn’t been able to officiate UFC events, and more (2:33:17).
Inside Boxing’s Dan Canobbio is our final guest of the day, breaking down Canelo Alvarez’s win over Christian Mbilli, discussing the crowd and atmosphere in Saudi Arabia, who Canelo should fight next, whether Canelo will eventually fight Jake Paul, talks of Oleksandr Usyk going back down to cruiserweight for a fight against David Benavidez, Devin Haney signing with DAZN and facing Liam Paro, and more (3:06:41).
Ariel covers news and notes, including TKO President Mark Shapiro talking about the business decision to host events in Saudi Arabia, Josh Hokit getting pepper sprayed to prepare for Ciryl Gane, social media posts made by Conor McGregor and Islam Makhachev, and more (3:30:00).
The show wraps up with your Super Chats (4:02:17).

Dan Canobbio and Chris Algieri open the show by reacting to Canelo Alvarez’s outstanding win over Christian Mbilli to capture another world title at super middleweight (01:50). Who should Canelo fight next: Hamzah Sheeraz? Terence Crawford (19:28)?
The undercard lasted several hours and saw Rafael Espinoza stop Ricardo Blandon by TKO and an all out slugfest between Jaime Munguia and underdog Nikita Zon (37:02).
Lastly, Oleksandr Usyk has expressed a desire to go back down to cruiserweight and fight David Benavidez in 2027. Is this a possible reality (49:31)?

On this episode of The Uncrowned Beat, Ariel Helwani is joined by Ben Fowlkes, Chuck Mindenhall, and Conner Burks to discuss top combat sports stories including: Alex Volkanovski angling for a Justin Gaethje superfight (01:20), fans seemingly turning on Alex Pereira (13:11), whether Petr Yan vs. Sean O'Malley is the biggest bantamweight fight ever (20:09), Conor Benn calling out Conor McGregor (27:40), and a look at the state of combat sports memorabilia (32:55).