The Ariel Helwani Show

The Craic is back! Petesy Carroll, Chuck Mindenhall, and Ben Fowlkes return as usual, and kick things off by breaking down Ilia Topuria’s newly minted no. 1 spot in the official Uncrowned pound-for-pound rankings (4:03). Shifting to what’s next for Topuria, Petesy and the gang weigh in on Paddy Pimblett, Justin Gaejthe, and Arman Tsarukyan as potential contenders for the lightweight champion (10:3...

Our grand finale from the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas kicks off with Ariel Helwani and the gang reacting to a wild combat weekend, headlined by Ilia Topuria's monster knockout of Charles Oliveira, Alexandre Pantoja's latest title defense, Jake Paul's victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., plus much more from UFC 317 (05:25). Then, Helwani reacts to Sean Strickland's viral tussle with Luis Hernandez...

NewYorkRic and Chuck Mindenhall (with a brief appearance by GC) join forces after the conclusion of UFC 317 to recap the whole event, starting with Ilia Topuria’s blistering first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira (01:21) and then diving into who should be next for the newly crowned lightweight champ. Next up, they touch on Joshua Van’s thrilling win in a Fight of the Year contender against Brand...

Our second show LIVE from the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas kicks off with Demetrious Johnson and his wife, Destiny, who chat about what goes into being the MMA GOAT, weight-cutting stories, receiving retirement advice from GSP, and more (02:32). Ian Machado Garry joins Ariel at the table to share details about Charles Oliveira’s weight cut, fighting Belal Muhammad or Sean Brady next, Kamaru Usman’...

Ariel Helwani and the crew kick off the show from Venetian Resort in Las Vegas to talk all things International Fight Week and the news and notes from around the sport (05:10). Israel Adesanya is the first guest in today’s star-studded in-studio lineup and he joins before his UFC Hall of Fame induction to discuss his loss to Nassourdine Imavov, training with David Goggins, Jon Jones, his back and...

The Craic returns! In a special Wednesday edition of the show, Petesy Carroll is joined by Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes to break down the latest evidence surrounding Jon Jones’s recent criminal charge, including Jones’ seemingly self-incriminating posts on X (0:38). Jones’ retirement disgruntled a lot of MMA fans, including Andy Aspinall, father and head coach of newly crowned undisputed champ...

Ariel Helwani and Ade Oladipo start with their reaction to the theatrics from Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford on their press tour (04:00), the rumored Jarrell Miller vs. Jared Anderson fight, and pitch their dream fights on the first Zuffa boxing card.  Then, the duo discusses the announced Riyad Season card headlined by Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte before being joined by WBO welterweight ch...

The Boys in the Back begin the show by reacting to body cam footage released by the Albuquerque Police Department of the alleged Jon Jones car crash scene (01:57). Then, they preview UFC 317 from top to bottom, starting with the highly-anticipated lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Ilia Topuria (09:14). After tackling the co-main event (30:06) and the rest of the PPV card (36:20)...

Ariel kicks off the show with his reaction to Dana White's announcement that Jon Jones retired and vacated his heavyweight title (04:36). Ilia Topuria joins ahead of his vacant lightweight title bout against Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 to discuss the fight, Islam Makhachev's decision to vacate, Paddy Pimblett, the possibility of fighting in Spain, and more (35:50). Nazim Sadykhov, Azerbaijan nativ...

Ariel Helwani gives his immediate reaction to Dana White announcing that Jon Jones has retired, making Tom Aspinall the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.

The Craic is back with its usual trifecta! Petesy Carroll, Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes get the show underway by unpacking the fallout from Conor McGregor’s latest nightclub scandal (4:23). It wouldn’t be a Craic episode without a Jon Jones segment, and this time it’s his appearance on the Nelk Boys podcast. The boys discuss his latest comments, which unsurprisingly don’t inspire much exciteme...

The Boys in the Baku start the show by reacting to Jon Jones’ recent comments about Tom Aspinall and Francis Ngannou (02:46), before moving on to the developing drama between Joaquin Buckley and Israel Adesanya (14:36). Next they preview the UFC's debut in Azerbaijan (21:34), headlined by Jamahal Hill versus Khalil Rountree Jr., along with the next round of the PFL tournament (47:58). After highli...

Ariel Helwani begins with the news and notes before Petesy and the Boys in the Back join to answer your On the Nose questions (07:56). Cory Sandhagen calls into the program to discuss his potential title shot against Merab Dvalishvili, Sean O’Malley’s recent performance, his viral social media skits, lifestyle habits, starting an OnlyFans, and more (1:02:42). Marc Raimondi, Atlanta Falcons reporte...

Ariel Helwani opens the show solo with a recap of Richardson Hitchins’ huge win over George Kambosos Jr. (03:34) and Eddie Hearn’s reaction to Hitchins' free agency comments (04:23). Dmitry Salita, head of Salita Promotions, calls to discuss Claressa Shields’ upcoming undisputed heavyweight title fight (10:29), MVP’s increased presence in women’s boxing (14:11), TKO’s emergence in the sport (16:37...

Phil Rowe kicks off the program fresh from his UFC Atlanta comeback win over Ange Loosa and shares his thoughts on his struggles to get a fight, the stakes around his last performance, his mom’s health struggles, releasing a song, and more (05:54). "The Iron Turtle" JunYong Park, UFC middleweight contender and one of the show’s most highly anticipated guests, joins the program before his fight thi...

Khalil Rountree Jr. joins the program before his UFC Baku main event against Jamahal Hill to discuss headlining the first UFC event in Azerbaijan, almost giving up on MMA, his coach John Wood, growing after his loss to Alex Pereira, his path back to a title shot, and more (02:15). Deontay Wilder, American heavyweight great, previews his return to the ring against Tyrrell Herndon. "The Bronze Bombe...

This week on The Craic, Petesy Carroll calls on Ben Fowlkes and Drake Riggs to talk combat sports’ biggest and weirdest headlines. They open the show by debating whether the inevitable Amanda Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison bout could be the biggest women’s MMA fight of all time (4:09). Next, the trio turn their attention to this weekend’s UFC Fight Night main event: Kamaru Usman vs. Joaquin Buckley. Pet...

The Boys in the Back begin the show with an update about Ben Askren (03:28), courtesy of Daniel Cormier, before discussing Merab Dvalishvili’s dominance and who has a realistic chance to dethrone the champ (05:13). Then, they preview UFC Atlanta (23:05), headlined by Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley, and PFL's next tournament round in Nashville (55:45). Next, they spotlight some Big Hitters from U...

Ariel Helwani starts with news and notes before the crew joins to answer your On the Nose questions and check in on their PFL tournament bracket predictions (08:53). Joshua Van calls in before his short-notice fight against No. 1 flyweight contender Brandon Royval to talk about his win over Bruno Silva, jumping up the rankings, buying his mom a house, training with Myanmar's Aung La Nsang, and mor...

Ariel Helwani and Ade Oladipo open the show by discussing the latest updates about the Canelo-Crawford superfight (03:31). Eddie Hearn joins the conversation to share his insight on the fight and Dana White’s involvement, the latest on Anthony Joshua, Dave Allen’s rise, Richardson Hitchins vs. George Kambosos Jr., and ends with his reaction to Fabio Wardley’s devastating knockout of Justis Huni, J...

Ariel Helwani reacts to major news regarding Canelo-Crawford landing on Netflix, the latest back and forth between rivals Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez, and more (01:37). Joe Pyfer joins in-studio after his big win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 316 to discuss stomach issues stemming from his UFC Mexico pullout, staying off of social media, his strained relationship with his father, Dricus du Plessi...

Ariel Helwani break downs the biggest results from UFC 316, including a discussion of Merab Dvalishvili’s legacy and Amanda Nunes’ highly anticipated return against Kayla Harrison (09:29). Then, he gets fired-up for a conversation regarding the latest Jones-Aspinall drama and reacts to Dana White’s press conference comments (34:43). Merab Dvalishvili calls into the program hot off his title defens...

Ariel Helwani, Chuck Mindenhall, and Petesy Carroll are back to recap UFC 316, starting with Merab Dvalishvili's incredible submission of Sean O'Malley in the night's main event (05:45). Next, they discuss Kayla Harrison's dominant showing against Julianna Peña and her inevitable meeting with former training partner Amanda Nunes (25:06), before weighing in on Patchy Mix's bizarre performance again...

The Craic is back! Petesy Carroll is joined by Craic regulars Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes. The boys open the show by breaking down the UFC 316 weigh-in results and analyzing which fighters looked sharp on the scales (5:14). One fighter who had no trouble making weight was Kayla Harrison, who challenges Juliana Peña for the bantamweight title. The guys explore each fighter’s path to victory an...

The Boys in the Back start the show with quick mention of Vasiliy Lomachenko's retirement, before diving into their UFC 316 mega preview, including the main event (3:16), co-main event (29:31), and other action on the card (53:48). Then, they're joined by Jordan Leavitt for a thoughtful and fascinating conversation about his life and career (1:04:08). After debuting a brand new Fight Feasts (1:46:...