Helwani: Title shots today are more about timing than deserving
Ariel Helwani: “In this game, timing is everything these days. It is not so much about who deserves it the most. It is about who’s ready, and who has enough time to prepare.”
Ariel Helwani has 240,000 followers on Twitter, dwarfing that of any other journalist in the MMA space. Helwani made his name by asking questions, but The UG’s Jonathan Shrager turned the tables today.
Helwani began by wishing a happy new year to “all my fellow Jews, including you Jonathan Shrager.” Rosh Hashanah 2014 began Wednesday evening, and runs through until Friday evening.
Helwani noted that there were 12 fighters and 60 minutes to interview each, but added that the card offers stories galore:
Demetrious Johnson (c) vs. Chris Cariaso
Donald Cerrone vs. Eddie Alvarez
Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor
Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero
Cat Zingano vs. Amanda Nunes
Dominick Cruz vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Helwani was asked whether a win Saturday would give McGregor a title shot.
“In this game, timing is everything these days,” said Helwani. “It is not so much about who deserves it the most. It is about who’s ready, and who has enough time to prepare.”
“My guess is, if (Conor McGregor) wins this fight – one win away from the title, given the landscape.”
Lastly Helwani was asked if he thought the friendly relationship between McGregor and UFC president Dana White rankled Dustin Poirier.
Sure, 100%,” said Helwani. “I asked Dustin about this. He said ‘yeah, it’s weird.’ I don’t blame him for thinking that. Let’s say you and I are colleagues and we have a boss and there’s footage and evidence of them hanging out and getting special treatment, preferential treatment? I’d be like ‘yeah, that kind of sucks. Why is he getting that?’
“We know there’s a reason why – he sells out arenas, and he’s a big draw, and he’s a big star. Does it have to be that open and blatant? Well, that’s the way they run things… The UFC and Dana White are going to do what they want. They don’t really care what people think or how they perceive it.
“But if I’m Dustin Poirier, I use that as motivation. ‘Oh really, you’re flying him out to Brazil, you’re hanging out with him, you’re watching fights with him?’ Alright, I’ll see you after Saturday night, what you do with this guy.
“That to me is going to be very interesting, how does (Poirier) turn all this into motivation. Because if I were him, I would use it as motivation.”
