Ariel Helwani responds to PFL Donn Davis about Kayla Harrison comments

Ariel Helwani is the ultimate armchair quarterback and with that he had no option but to voice his most recent opinions of PFL founder Donn Davis’s comments about Kayla Harrison. PFL which acquired Bellator MMA shortly before Kayla Harrison’s departure eventually lost the star athlete through Free Agency.

Recently Gegard Mousasi went public causing a release from his current contract, Sobah Homasi has announced difficulties getting medical bills reimbursed, and Douglas Lima has had his own accusations before a recent re-signing with the promotion.

Helwani who was responding to comments made by Donn Davis comparing Kayla Harrison to an NBA analogy had this to say to Demetrious Johnson during a recent podcast,”Don’t get me started on this. This is crazy to me. When I saw that — it’s so crazy to me on so many different levels,” Helwani said. “Number one, the analogy doesn’t even fit… First of all, LeBron (James) left Cleveland to go join Miami and create a super team, and thus he won two championships with Miami. Doesn’t really fit there. But he’s taking a shot at Kayla by saying Kayla is more Kevin Durant… (Saying) the only way Kevin Durant could win a championship is by joining this super power… The analogy doesn’t work for multiple reasons. Number one, Kayla Harrison had already won championships with PFL!
“Who’s the big fight (for Harrison in the PFL)? Larissa Pacheco (because) she beat her? Guess what, Kayla beat her twice! You want them to fight a fourth time? None of those fights drew a dime!… Cyborg? Okay, first of all, as of right this moment, Cyborg isn’t on the same page as the PFL and is openly complaining. There’s no guarantee that that fight would ever happen as well,” Helwani continued. “Now let’s compare that to the UFC, where you have a slew of new blood, a slew of new faces.”

Helwani went on to say that the discussion went further with Donn Davis outlining a few details he wanted to drive home including, “I like Donn Davis a lot… (But) if you want to be known as the fighter-first organization, you can’t be taking shots at a two-time gold medalist, a two-time champion in your organization. You can’t be doing that,” Helwani stated. “You need to do what Scott Coker did when Michael Chandler left, who was the face of Bellator. ‘Good luck, we wish you the best, we’ll be rooting for you.’
“I had a bit of a text conversation with Donn after I tweeted this. I’m not gonna talk about what we talked about, but what I tried to explain to him — I’ll say what I said to him, I won’t say what he said to me — we can debate who’s tougher, Pacheco or (Holly) Holm, Cyborg or (Amanda) Nunes, but here’s what your missing: Kayla Harrison going from 155 to 135 (pounds) is a challenge greater than all these people combined. That’s the part that you’re missing! … That challenge alone is worth our respect. You have to recognize that, Donn. The fact that you’re not, to me, will only tell other fighters and fans, hey, maybe this guy doesn’t get it,” Helwani concluded.

What do you think Cyborg Nation? Was Donn Davis right in his criticism of Kayla Harrison?

Cyborg who has been rumored to fight Larissa Pacheco now that Kayla Harrison has left the promotion is currently scheduled for a June 15th Boxing fight in London England as the Co Main Event of   Crypto Fight Night.