Paddy Pimblett snubs idea of rekindling friendship with Ariel Helwani: “He tried to ruin my career”

UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett snubbed the idea of rekindling a relationship with mixed martial arts journalist Ariel Helwani, stating the Canadian “tried to ruin” his career prior to his UFC 282 fight with Jared Gordon.

Before his UFC 282 clash with Gordon back in December last year, Pimblett’s stock was rising significantly. The lively Scouser joined the UFC in 2021 and quickly became a mainstream name, finishing his first three opponents under the UFC’s lights.

However, his most recent bout with Gordon in Las Vegas came with massive debate and controversy. Pimblett edged a close decision win and faced some backlash for many believing he lost the fight.

In the lead-up to his co-main event outing last year, Pimblett and Helwani engaged in a heated back-and-forth in front of the MMA community. Pimblett rinsed Helwani during an episode of his podcast with UFC President Dana White, claiming he uses fighters to make a living for himself and doesn’t share a piece of the profits with those he interviews.

Paddy Pimblett has no intention of resolving Ariel Helwani beef

The pair both poked jabs towards one another during fight week and after the fight and have yet to resolve the situation, and it’s clear Pimblett has no intention of re-building the burnt bridges.

“The Ariel (Helwani) stuff, people turned on me for telling the truth about Ariel, lad, it’s crazy,” Paddy Pimblett told Severe MMA. “I’ve got all that [receipts]. I’ve got all that on me phone. This ‘receipts’ thing is the maddest shout ever… At the time, I actually considered Ariel a friend. Obviously, a I was never a friend to him. He saw me as a pound sign.”

“The annoying thing about that was people saying to me,’You’ve just been bullying Ariel and you’ve started an anti-bullying charity.’ My charity isn’t an anti-bullying charity, for one. It’s just a foundation to help people, Two, I haven’t bullied Ariel at all… I said this the other day, I shouldn’t have called him names. I shouldn’t have. …I shouldn’t have said nasty words. Everything else was the truth. He tried to assassinate my character.”

Quotes via MMA News