INGLEWOOD, Calif. — A reporter’s credentials were revoked during a UFC show Saturday night after he reported that WWE star and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar was close to fighting again for the organization.
MMAfighting.com’s Ariel Helwani said on Twitter that he was escorted out of the UFC 199 show at the Forum before the main event, along with photographer Esther Lin and video director E. Casey Leydon.
Helwani’s story on Lesnar appeared a few hours before the surprising return was made official. During the UFC 199 show, the UFC announced that Lesnar, mixed martial arts’ biggest pay-per-view star, will fight at UFC 200 in Las Vegas next month.
Helwani posted that he only reported news, didn’t do anything unethical and then was “told we’re banned for life.”
UFC spokesman Dave Sholler said the promotion believes that journalists should show professional courtesy by contacting the UFC for comment before reporting a story.
Helwani was recently removed from his role as a reporter for Fox Sports, the UFC’s corporate broadcast partner. He is among the most prominent journalists covering the sport, with more than 368,000 Twitter followers.
UFC President Dana White hasn’t publicly commented on the decision to ban Helwani. White didn’t attend the postfight news conference at UFC 199.
