The Ariel Helwani Show

Ariel Helwani and The Boys in the Back kick things off with updates on Ben Askren and Robert Whittaker, as well as hitting all the latest news and notes (05:54). Tatsuro Taira is the first guest and joins ahead of his headliner at UFC Vegas 108. He discusses rebounding after his first career loss, Amir Albazi’s withdrawal, Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua Van's anticipated matchup, and more (19:50). N...

Ariel Helwani is back in your life and begins with a deep dive into the career and life of Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea. Then, the crew joins to help recap the weekend in combat sports (02:01). Wrestling legend Ric Flair calls in first to reflect on the death of his close friend Hulk Hogan and gets into how the two met, competing with him and their in-ring chemistry throughout his career, being cance...

Petesy Carroll is joined by Chuck Mindenhall to discuss the latest in combat sports, beginning with a reflection on the legacy of the late Hulk Hogan (06:46). They then dive into Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane. What are the key storylines heading into the matchup, and could this be the start of the Aspinall era? (21:36) Looking ahead to UFC Abu Dhabi, Robert Whittaker takes on the streaking Reinier d...

The Boys in the Back start the show by acknowledging Terry ‘Hulk Hogan’ Bollea, who died earlier in the day at 71 years old (00:34). Then, they break down UFC Abu Dhabi from all angles, starting with the main event matchup between former champion Robert Whittaker and rising contender Reinier de Ridder (04:09), before moving on to the rest of the card (23:23). Ariel Helwani joins to further discuss...

Darren Till and Luke Rockhold are first up and join Ariel from Manchester in an exclusive faceoff to preview their upcoming Misfits Boxing 22 fight. After Darren leaves, Luke talks about his transition into boxing (03:01). Tony Ferguson is the next fighter from the Misfits card to call in before his fight against Salt Papi. He discusses his mindset at age 41, leaving the UFC, his continued interes...

On Tuesday night, Dana White broke massive news, announcing three fights — Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alex Pereira, Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen, and Jiri Prochazka vs. Khalil Rountree — to take place at UFC 320, with Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane set to headline UFC 321.  Ariel Helwani and the Boys in the Back give their immediate reactions to the fights, discuss which is the most significant boo...

Ariel Helwani and Ade Oladipo kick off the show by reacting to the viral video of Daniel Dubois’ large gathering before his 5th-round TKO loss to Oleksandr Usyk (01:13), with Ade’s perspective from the event. Then, the duo make their predictions for Usyk’s next fight (08:35). Andy Lee, former WBO middleweight champion and current trainer to the stars, joins and discusses what’s next for Joseph Par...

Ariel Helwani and the Boys in the Back are back and start by reacting to Daniel Dubois' controversial fight-day gathering (08:46). Robert Whittaker joins before his headliner in Abu Dhabi against the streaking Reinier de Ridder to discuss his dream retirement fight, having his sixth kid, Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev, Australia’s UFC takeover, sparring Tim Tszyu and Jai Opetaia, and more (...

Ariel Helwani starts the show by paying homage to Dustin Poirier’s career after his Max Holloway retirement fight at UFC 318. The crew joins to offer their thoughts and recap the rest of the packed weekend, including Oleksandr Usyk’s big win over Daniel Dubois and Manny Pacquiao’s shocking draw. (05:26). Newly crowned PFL middleweight champion Costello Van Steenis calls in after his fifth-round re...

Petesy Carroll and Chuck Mindenhall react to the aftermath of UFC 318, starting with Max Holloway’s impressive victory against Dustin Poirier (01:26). After paying tribute to Poirier (10:17), who called it a career, they move on to Paulo Costa’s return to form in his victory against Roman Kopylov (14:50), Daniel Rodriguez’s back-and-forth war with Kevin Holland (20:54), Patricio Pitbull’s much-nee...

With a stacked combat sports weekend ahead, Petesy Carroll, Chuck Mindenhall, and Ben Fowlkes kick things off by debating which bout carries the highest stakes (6:22). One of those matchups is Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier. The crew dives into their favorite storylines surrounding this trilogy clash (14:03). Arguably the biggest fight of the weekend is Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois 2. Can Dub...

The Boys in the Back kick off a stacked show with their reaction to Jon Jones' appearance at the ESPYS, stating he's 'back' and ready to fight at the White House (01:30). Then, they head down to the Big Easy, paying homage to the legendary career of Dustin Poirier ahead of his last dance against Max Holloway (10:53), before breaking down the UFC 318 main event in detail (24:22). They preview co-ma...

Ariel Helwani begins the show with a brief celebration of GC’s birthday and by answering your On the Nose questions (08:47). Thad Jean is the first guest of the day, and he joins in-studio on his birthday before his PFL welterweight tournament final against Logan Storley. He discusses transitioning from football to MMA, his Haitian roots, becoming the face of PFL, and more (41:55). TNA superstar M...

Ariel Helwani and Ade Oladipo kick things off with the weekend recap, starting with Hamzah Sheeraz’s huge knockout of Edgar Berlanga (04:49) and Shakur Stevenson’s back-and-forth victory against William Zepeda (07:43), and Ade makes a bold claim for Hamzah’s next fight.  Nakisa Bidarian is the first guest up and breaks down MVP’s record-breaking Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3 event, highlightin...

Ariel Helwani begins the show with some news and notes, before Chris Curtis calls in — on his birthday — to talk about his hard-fought win over Max Griffin, his return to welterweight, his altercation at Tuff-N-Uff, his struggles at middleweight, and more (06:39). Steve Garcia is next up after his big win over Calvin Kattar to discuss wanting a headliner next, fighting up the rankings, putting tog...

Ariel Helwani opens the show with a recap of combat sports’ massive weekend, before Petesy and the Boys in the Back join to break down Katie Taylor’s big win over Amanda Serrano on Netflix (02:32). Shakur Stevenson returns to the studio after his statement win over William Zepeda to talk about the fight, his friendship with Terence Crawford, his promotional future, his callout of ‘Tank’ Davis, Flo...

Live from Madison Square Garden, Petesy Carroll and Chuck Mindenhall give their immediate reactions to Katie Taylor claiming victory in her trilogy fight against Amanda Serrano.  Soaking up the energy from the live arena, The Craic transports you cage side with live sound from the fighter announcements and results (00:13), followed by the duo breaking down the biggest storylines from the bout (04:...

For the very first time, Petesy Carroll hosts The Craic from our New York studio! Craic stalwart Chuck Mindenhall joins him at the top of the show before Irish boxing journalist Gavan Casey arrives to preview Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3, which takes place tonight at Madison Square Garden (11:33). After that, Petesy and Chuck react to Dana White’s Full Send appearance where he discussed the p...

The Boys in the Back start the show with Ben Askren’s video from the hospital bed following his double lung transplant (02:20), then react to the PFL announcing a new CEO (07:08). Next up, they tackle how to fix the UFC's heavyweight division (11:47), leading into a breakdown of UFC Nashville (39:01), starting with the Derrick Lewis vs. Tallison Teixeira main event, followed by the rest of the car...

Ariel Helwani and the Boys in the Back are joined by Petesy Carroll to recap his time at the Taylor-Serrano open workouts as well as cover all the latest news and notes (01:08). Combat sports ring announcer Kody "Big Mo" Mommaerts is the first of three in-studio guests, and he joins before working Taylor-Serrano on Friday. He gets into carving out his path as an announcer, competing in public spea...

Ariel Helwani and Ade Oladipo are reunited in the New York studio ahead of a massive weekend in the world of boxing. They begin the show by previewing the highly-anticipated trilogy fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano (02:22), before diving into the rest of the all-women card (22:57).  Next, they discuss the stacked Ring card headlined by Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz and Shakur Stev...

Ariel Helwani kicks off a special all in-studio show with Petesy Carroll, who comes bearing gifts for Ariel's birthday (05:06). Craig Jones joins ahead of his grappling match against Gable Steveson and talks all things CJI 2. He also discusses mending ties with ADCC, his feud with the UFC, training with JDM and Tom Aspinall, and shares stories of his travels to Ukraine (16:00). WBA bantamweight ch...

The Craic's Petesy Carroll is in town, so he joins Ariel Helwani in studio to set the table for this weekend’s Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano trilogy fight on Netflix and discuss other major news and notes around the sport (06:10). "Butterbean" Eric Esch, boxing legend, calls in to talk about his incredible health resurgence, a potential return against Jake Paul or Brock Lesnar, fighting in PRIDE...

The Boys in the Back return from Las Vegas and kick off the show with a debate about new UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria's star power and how he compares to Conor McGregor (02:17). With no event to preview, The Boys recap their picks (33:50) and jump into their P4P all-time rankings of American fighters (41:22), before listening to voicemails (52:55) and answering your Super Chats (1:19:54).

Ariel Helwani kicks off the show with stories from last week's Las Vegas adventure (01:46), before speaking to top lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan about being the backup fighter for UFC 317, his reaction to Ilia Topuria's win, words exchanged with both Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje, who he wants to fight next, and more (22:58). Next, Gregory Rodrigues aka 'Robocop' joins the show followi...