MMA journalist Ariel Helwani seemingly saw something inappropriate on Dustin Poirier’s phone during an interview in 2019. Since then, MMA fans claim Helwani has seen Poirier’s ‘Diamonds’. This is a wordplay about Poiriers’s nickname ‘Diamond’. However, Helwani has come clean recently and informed the fans that he did not see anything inappropriate on the UFC fighter’s phone.
On the Overdogs Podcast, Helwani was asked about his interaction with Poirier. One of the hosts asked, “What did you see on Dustin Poirier’s phone?”
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Helwani immediately claimed that the video was edited. He said, “This video that you’re talking about is of an interview that we did in 2019. It is a bullsh*t video. It’s an edited video. It’s nothing.”
The journalist claimed that two different videos were put together to create the edited video. He said, “Whomever made this video edited it together to where he says not that one about something else and then shows me looking away. It’s all, none of that is real. I hate to mythbust here, I didn’t see anything inappropriate.”
You can take a look at the original video below:
Here, Poirier was showing something to Helwani on his phone before he said, “Nope, not that one,” which forced Helwani to turn away. However, the journalist has refuted the video and claimed this was edited.
Ariel Helwani thinks Dustin Poirier is one of the best lightweight fighters in UFC history
Poirier last entered the Octagon for a fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 291. The BMF title was on the line and Gaethje prevailed with a strong head kick KO in the second round.
In a recent interview with Helwani, Poirier opened up about his KO loss. He said that the BMF title win would have cemented his legacy and teed him up for a title shot. According to Poirier, a win at UFC 291 would have been a strong argument for him to become a Hall of Famer.
Respectfully, I think his resume is one of the best in 155 history. Fought them all. Beat the vast majority of them. All killers Won the interim belt against an all-time great. And considering who else is in the HOF at the moment, I think he is a shoe in.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 1, 2023
Helwani, however, was all praise for Poirier. The MMA journalist does not believe Poirer needs the win to cement his legacy. He wrote on X, “Respectfully, I think his resume is one of the best in 155 history. Fought them all. Beat the vast majority of them. All killers Won the interim belt against an all-time great. And considering who else is in the HOF at the moment, I think he is a shoe in.”
Former UFC Lightweight champion Conor McGregor, in a now-deleted post on X, disagreed with Helwani. The Irish fighter claimed that Poirier had recency bias in his favor and that he had lost three chances of winning the Lightweight title.