Monday morning won’t be the same Ariel Helwani leaves The MMA Hour moving to ESPN

After June 11th It appears as if MMA’s top reporter Ariel Helwani has received a new position and will be heading to ESPN as a new platform to continue his award winning interviews and MMA talk.  With the news, we learn that he will be pairing with THE BAD GUY Chael Sonnen.  The two will pair for an interesting combination as Chael Sonnen still active in his fight career will offer a unique insight into many of the topics the two will discuss while covering the leading news in MMA and the rest of combat sports.

Ariel will join Brett Okamaoto on the ESPN platform, something that doesn’t happen often in MMA.  The move to ESPN is a big deal for Ariel Helwani, especially at a time when the UFC just announced their new deal with ESPN + the streaming service that ESPN offers which will be covering 15 fight night events for the UFC on their network.

The following quote comes direct from the ESPN Media Zone

“Helwani said, “For as long as I can remember, my dream has been to work at ESPN. I know the term ‘dream come true’ is often overused, but this is truly that for me. Growing up in Montreal we didn’t get ESPN, but any time my family would travel down south I would stay in our hotel room as long as possible watching the morning SportsCenter on loop. I’ve loved all things ESPN since I was a kid, and in all honesty, it still feels a bit surreal that I am joining the gold standard in sports media. I couldn’t be more excited to get started and am extremely thankful for the opportunity.”

“Ariel and The Bad Guy” will team Helwani with professional fighter and ESPN MMA analyst, Chael Sonnen, for a fast-paced 30-minute weekly breakdown of the top stories, developments and upcoming fights. New episodes will be available on ESPN+ each Wednesday, beginning June 20, and there will be special episodes before and after major mixed martial arts events.”

Mixed martial arts insider Ariel Helwani joins ESPN:

He will cover MMA across ESPN media, have his own podcast & co-host with Chael Sonnen “Ariel & The Bad Guy,” a new original weekly show on ESPN+

Full details: https://t.co/fmSoqNqTTopic.twitter.com/FHnSj7cNna

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) May 17, 2018