My Takeaway(s) from Ariel's words today: Ariel Only Made One Mistake

I just now, a second ago, finished my second listen-through of today's MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. The first time I listened to it (live) I was messing around with my iPad, writing e-mails, surfing the web and whatnot, so I didn't quite absorb every word like I wanted to. The second time, I listened to it as a captive audience and hung on every word he said.

I feel for Mr. Helwani. I have been in a similar situation, very recently (this past year). I know it is lame when someone goes through a traumatic incident and then someone else tries to pull the "OH I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL" card. I am not trying to compare my story directly with Ariel's, all I am saying is I went through a similar deal, lost my job despite a documented history of work excellence, due to a situation I saw coming from far away but couldn't find the guts to leave gracefully before the inevitable storm hit due to how much I loved my job and the people I worked with directly (not my supervisors, but my colleagues and the kids I worked with were just so awesome). It sucks. I had a dream that I wanted to be a teacher and a coach for my entire adult life, it was my dream, and now it is over. I tweeted about a district policy that resulted in a special needs student being manhandled by 5 sheriff deputies and that was the end of me. I refused to back down and was very vocal about what I witnessed to parents in the community and the district I worked for went to work on me, hard. They are a huge, powerful district that basically dissolved the union a few years ago. I had no help to fall back on and couldn't afford the lawyers it would require to fight what was happening.

Many times I had a chance to voluntarily resign from my positions as a SPED worker and coach but I kept fighting the process that was happening to me through HR because I knew the truth, and I knew I had done nothing wrong. It didn't matter. You don't ruffle the feathers of people infinitely more powerful than you and get away with it, most times.

I feel like Ariel made one mistake, and one mistake only. He should have never taken a job that was sponsored by Zuffa paychecks. I am glad he came forth and admitted this to us first, beating the UFC and FOX to the punch as I am SURE they were planning on using this to hurt Ariel in the court of public opinion, just as Ariel eluded to in his talk today. I believe every word Ariel said today, especially when he talked about how hard a choice it was for him to accept that job, knowing what it meant and entailed. I am sure he tried everything he could to change that pay structure, I am sure he would have worked for free if he could have. He did what he thought was best for him and his family.

Unfortunately, rich bullies like White and the Fertitta's make a living off buying people. They buy you and use you. They do this with almost all the people they deal with on a business level, and even sometimes on a personal level. As soon as Ariel cashed a Zuffa paycheck, he became part of the "team." There are expectations there, there are unwritten rules and even written rules. Ariel mentions other big-time reporters like Shefter and Glazer but one thing about those guys is I am almost entirely sure they don't cash NFL paychecks. Maybe they do, you can correct me if I am wrong here. Even if they do, the bottom line is the NFL is much more apt to let stuff like that slide than the UFC, the NFL is making billions regardless. Ariel was under the Zuffa umbrella. There is a reason why you don't see Rogan and Buffer at Bellator events. or WSOF events. There are expectations of Zuffa employees.

Ariel is a passionate journalist. He has goals and he works his ass off to achieve those goals. He wants to be the best, he wants to set the standard. These things are awesome. These things make Ariel the great man he is. Unfortunately, that kind of strong, passionate, ethical man doesn't go far in organizations like the UFC. The road to the top of a slimeball company like UFC, or Zuffa, doesn't involve doing the right thing, it involves doing the "smart thing." Ariel is a "right thing" kind of guy.

As soon as Ariel became a Zuffa employee, he basically castrated his ability to "free press." I know that "free press" is a constitutional right, but so so is the ability to run a business and govern employees. Ariel was making Zuffa money, and he still did his Ariel routines, and it cost him. As soon as he was fired from FOX completely it seems like the writing is on the wall, getting harassed by White during the Diaz interview seems to be the last nail in the coffin. This was coming. They were just waiting for him to do anything they could label as "egregious" to superficially justify a sudden ban even though it was undoubtedly in the pipeline for awhile. They were just waiting to pounce.

Did Ariel do anything wrong? No, of course not. But, technically, neither did the UFC, at least according to the letter of the law. It sucks. It really sucks. It hurts. It is heartbreaking. I am sure he felt helpless being escorted out, that night in the hotel, I am sure he felt demeaned and demoralized. It is awful. But it happens, and it happens because it is not illegal and it isn't breaking any rules. Ariel had to know that his breaking news reports ruffled feathers up top, and he had to know (he basically admits this much) that people at the top have it out for him.

I can imagine it was awful for Ariel to show up to work everyday feeling like he wasn't supported, like he was an outcast, that he was a target, knowing that things weren't going to end well. I understand why he stuck with the job as long as he could.

I don't know what I can do to support Ariel, but I will gladly do anything I can. I hope the UFC is sold and a decent human being takes over and grants MMAFighting their credentials again.

Ariel has the support of MMA Fans and MMA Fighters. Ariel is beloved for a reason. Ariel has a pirate ship. The UFC can't touch MMAFighting, they can't touch the MMA Hour. Ariel hopefully uses his influence and his freedom and independence to freely report anything worth reporting, and takes his investigative MMA journalism to the next level now that the UFC has nothing more to hurt him with.