Ariel Helwani is embarking on a new chapter in his career in the media, and he hopes to build a combat sports outlet in a similar vein to ESPN’s famous “Grantland” site.
Helwani is heading up Uncrowned, a new combat sports media entity that launched this month in partnership with Yahoo Sports, with the renowned MMA journalist, interviewer and host putting together a team of former colleagues to bring a new approach to combat sports reporting in the months and years ahead.
It’s a move that gives Helwani the chance to build something akin to the Grantland site Bill Simmons launched at ESPN in 2011.
“I always felt like I didn’t earn that right yet, and now I feel like I’ve earned the right,” Helwani told RG.org.
“We’ve amassed an amazing team of writers and are going to do some great journalism,” Helwani said.
“It’s kind of like my Grantland, if you will.”
Helwani’s stock in the MMA space has grown steadily over the years, from his early days at JarryPark.com to his time at AOL Fanhouse and, most notably, at Fox Sports, ESPN and MMA Fighting.
Now, he’s heading up his own media brand, and he’s excited to bring back some of the old-school journalism that he feels the sport has been missing in recent years.
“There was a time, like 2016, 2017, 2015, where I thought MMA media was thriving in a very big way,” Helwani recalled.
“In particular, the stuff that we were doing on MMAFighting.com with the features, the long-forms, the great storytelling. Obviously, there’s a place for the fight announcements, the he-said-she-saids. But I feel like a lot of that storytelling has gone away.
“I hope that (Uncrowned) will be a breath of fresh air and a lot different than what you’re getting on all the other sites, because I do agree that a lot of it is similar and nothing really sticks out.”
Helwani also commented about his at-times turbulent relationship with Dana White, and while the pair might not see eye-to-eye, he said that he hopes to one day bury the hatchet with the UFC boss.
“I honestly would like to think that, deep down, there’s respect there,” he said.
“I’d like to also think life is too short for crazy grudges, and if I saw him, we’d be able to shake hands. But it’s impossible for me to know.”