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00:00And from one icon to another, joining us right now live on Shine Time,
00:05the outstanding host of the Ariel Helwani show, MMA guru, diehard fan of the Knicks,
00:11my guy, Ariel Helwani. Following Clyde, how about that?
00:16That's why I'm shaking my head, Adam. That's why I'm hanging my head in shame.
00:21I do not deserve that. I should never follow Clyde Frazier.
00:24I was like, my breath was taken away when I was on the same Zoom as the living legend.
00:29My middle son's name is Walter for two people, Walter Cronkite, Walt Clyde Frazier.
00:35And so that to me is, I didn't even talk to him and I feel honored.
00:38So I don't know why you would book me after him, but thank you so much for having me.
00:42It's a great honor for me to be on here with you.
00:44Absolutely. And listen, you're my guy and we go back a long ways and you love the Knicks and I
00:48love the Knicks.
00:49And I'm fascinated to get your take on this comeback down 22.
00:54And Walt just said it. I talked to Mike Breen. He was calling the game for ESPN.
00:58He said it. I'm not ashamed to say it out loud.
01:01I thought that game was over in terms of watching it, statistical anomalies.
01:06I mean, there was no shot the Knicks were going to come back.
01:09And then they did. And that Brunson burner was unbelievable.
01:13How do you describe what we saw in game number one?
01:16Okay, before I do that, I hope you don't mind.
01:19And I've done this with you before, but please, producers, don't get mad at me.
01:23Adam says that we go way back.
01:25The audience needs to know that in 2004, when I'm a Syracuse University student with no prospects, with no connections,
01:32knowing no one in this business,
01:34I send out about 30 emails to people in this business.
01:37And only one person called me back.
01:40And that was Adam Schein pumping gas in his car.
01:43He no chance remembers this, but I was starstruck.
01:46I was blown away.
01:47And so anytime he asks me to do anything for him, I will forever be in debt.
01:50And in fact, when people reach out to me now, I remember Adam Schein and what he meant to me
01:54sitting in my dorm room at Syracuse,
01:56calling me for 20 minutes and allowing me to ask him questions.
01:59And so you are an all-time Hall of Fame, A-plus mention, my opinion.
02:03And it's always a great, great honor to be on your show and call you a friend.
02:06Now that out of the way, I needed to say that for this relatively new audience of yours here on
02:10New York Post.
02:11You're one of one.
02:13That was unbelievable.
02:14And for me, it was spiritual.
02:16It made me very emotional, Adam, because I've been a New York Knicks fan since 1990.
02:20And when the Knicks made the finals for the first time in my lifetime, it was 1994.
02:24I was in sixth grade.
02:26And I remember that team like the back of my hand.
02:28And in fact, my father is from Egypt.
02:30He's an immigrant from Egypt.
02:31We grew up in Montreal.
02:32And I'll never forget game six, 1994.
02:36He cares about basketball like this much, knows nothing, cares about nothing, doesn't watch it, doesn't play it, nothing.
02:43But I told my dad the Knicks are going to win the NBA championship tonight.
02:46It was a Sunday night in June of 1994.
02:48We were up 3-2.
02:50And he sat there.
02:51And I'll never forget it.
02:52And it makes me emotional thinking about it and watched the whole game with me because I told him, we
02:56are going to be champions tonight.
02:57And as you know, John Starks took a three at the end of that game, got blocked by Olajuwon, should
03:01have dumped it into Ewing in the post.
03:04It's all good.
03:04And they didn't win.
03:05And so now to be a father and to have kids who are 12 and 14 and to watch this
03:11version of the Knicks and their 90s version of the Knicks, if you get what I'm saying, doing what they're
03:16doing, making them fans for life, lifetime memories, going crazy, jumping up and down.
03:22It feels like I'm back as that kid.
03:25And I can't believe that we're so close to maybe finally doing it again.
03:28Because as you know, these games seem to matter more when you're in your 40s.
03:32I try to explain to them, this is not normal.
03:35We've suffered for a very long time.
03:36And so I feel like my anxiety is so much more heightened now because I want this so badly.
03:42I just want to see one, Adam.
03:43I just want to see one.
03:45And so when they were making that comeback and when Shamit made that three to tie at 99-99, I
03:49swear to God, I started crying.
03:51I didn't know what to do because this doesn't happen to us.
03:55363 days prior, we had our hearts ripped out and stomped on by Tyrese Halliburton in Game 1 of the
04:00Eastern Conference Finals.
04:01So I am just praying that we have seven more of these left in us.
04:04I pray to God, and then we can all sort of die in peace.
04:08So when I'm watching all of this, it was overjoyed for me.
04:11And I got very, very emotional.
04:13And that doesn't often happen in those moments.
04:15Listen, I felt the same way.
04:16And then, you know, you think about experiences with your dad.
04:19And now you think about experiences, you know, with your kids.
04:23I know I do.
04:24So many people watching can relate to that.
04:27So for this team right now, with Jalen Brunson as the ultimate superstar, Ariel, I can see it.
04:33I mean, I know what the Thunder are.
04:35I know what the Spurs are.
04:37But I can vision a championship for the Knicks this year.
04:42You feel the same way?
04:43Not trying to get ahead of ourselves.
04:45We still have three more games to win in this particular series.
04:49But yes, absolutely.
04:49And it drives me nuts when I hear either Knicks fans or just general NBA fans say like,
04:55oh, yeah, all to lose to the Spurs or Thunder in the finals.
04:59First of all, could we just get there?
05:00As you know, it's been a while, 1999.
05:03Can we just get there?
05:04And then let the chips fall where they may.
05:06Crazy things happen.
05:08I'm not wishing for injuries upon anyone.
05:10But crazy things do happen.
05:11And so dominoes fall.
05:12I remember the 2019 NBA finals.
05:15No one thought the Raptors had a chance against the Warriors.
05:17And there they were, winning game one.
05:19They steal it.
05:20And then things started to break their way.
05:21And now all of a sudden, they win the whole damn thing in six games.
05:24And so number one, I would love the fact that they can make it to the finals.
05:28Will I be content with that?
05:30I mean, like, obviously, to a degree, it's nice.
05:32It's one step further from last year.
05:34It would wash away all the criticism of the coaching change and whatnot because they did go one step further.
05:38What did everyone say last year?
05:40If you don't make it to the finals, this was an absolute mistake.
05:43Well, if they make it to the finals, all that noise goes away.
05:45And I would love for that go away, even though I love Tibbs, by the way.
05:47And I like Mike Brown as well.
05:49But I just want that all to go away.
05:50And then number two, let's just see what happens.
05:53And so, yes, I can see it.
05:55I could smell it.
05:55I could taste it.
05:56I could see Jalen holding that trophy.
05:58I could see it.
05:59Maybe because we saw him hold it in college.
06:01We saw Josh Hart do it as well.
06:03Mikel, I could see them.
06:04I could.
06:05And you know what?
06:05I don't know if you felt this way, Adam, but I got super emotional in December.
06:09People laughed at me.
06:10And I know it was a big joke.
06:11When we won the NBA Cup, just to see the Knicks celebrate something, just to see that scene on the
06:18stage with the hats and the T-shirt.
06:20At the time, I was like, is this the closest I'm ever going to get?
06:22I bought the shirt.
06:23I bought the hat.
06:24I bought all the commemorative stuff because I thought this was the closest.
06:27And now here we are, seven wins away, seven wins away.
06:30I could see it like you.
06:32And I just pray that finally it happens in a few months or a few weeks, I should say.
06:35I mean, we're both feeling it.
06:37We're, I mean, reading from the same script here and sharing a brain when it comes to our Knicks.
06:41Now, I want to talk some MMA with you.
06:43And we had Ronda Rousey in the studio.
06:45And I can't get enough.
06:47And it was terrific.
06:48And she was a great guest.
06:49She made her return on Saturday.
06:51I mean, it only took 17 seconds against Gina, let's be honest.
06:56And you were there on the Netflix broadcast, which, by the way, peaked at nearly 17 million viewers.
07:01No surprise.
07:02I was one of them, according to reports.
07:04What did you think of the return?
07:07Well, okay.
07:08So I have a lot of thoughts about this.
07:10I never in a million years thought that Ronda Rousey would ever fight again.
07:14When she left the sport in 2016, she shunned the sport and the sport shunned her.
07:19She wanted nothing to do with it.
07:20She wanted nothing to do with the media.
07:22She never showed up to events.
07:24She wouldn't talk to MMA media even down the line.
07:27Even when she did the pro wrestling thing, when she showed up at WWE, she wanted nothing to do with
07:31MMA.
07:32And it was kind of sad because she's a trailblazer.
07:35She's one of the greatest of all time.
07:36What she did for women in this sport and for the UFC in general was nothing short of amazing.
07:40And so I thought that she was just going to be done.
07:43And so to see her return was a big deal.
07:45Then to see the kind of shape that she was in en route to this fight was a really big
07:49deal.
07:50To see the love and passion return, she was cutting mad promos.
07:54Like the promos that she was cutting leading up to this fight, we hadn't seen that version of her in
07:58well over a decade.
07:59And so all of that was very fun and refreshing.
08:02If anyone truly knew Ronda and truly knew Gina, Gina had not fought in 17 years, you knew that Ronda
08:08was the favorite.
08:09Did I think it would be that quick?
08:10No, probably not.
08:12Did I think that there was a very good chance she would win in the first round?
08:14Yes.
08:14Because even though Ronda Rousey had not fought in 10 years, she was still doing the WWE thing.
08:19She was in tip-top shape.
08:21Gina was not.
08:22Gina had to lose 100 pounds just to get to featherweight, which is 145 in MMA.
08:26And so, you know, it's just two different situations.
08:30But I didn't feel â I saw all the takes out there.
08:32I didn't feel like it was rigged.
08:34Excuse me.
08:35If it was rigged, they would have made it last longer.
08:37It's a ridiculous thing.
08:38And you know how I truly know it wasn't rigged?
08:40Because we've seen Ronda do this 10 years ago.
08:43She beat Katzingano in the same town at UFC 184 in 14 seconds via armbar.
08:49It wasn't like we've never seen her do this before.
08:51And it was so beyond comprehension that she could pull something like this off against someone who's older than her
08:55and who hadn't fought in 17 years.
08:57No, of course this was a high possibility.
08:59And so, yes, did I feel unfulfilled?
09:02Absolutely.
09:02Did I wish it lasted a little bit longer?
09:04Absolutely.
09:05But I didn't feel like I was conned or taken for a ride or anything like that.
09:10Because, A, it wasn't a pay-per-view.
09:12And, B, this has happened before with Ronda many times.
09:15That was her 10th armbar win.
09:17And so I thought that the hysteria was a little bit crazy.
09:19But this is what happens, as you know, when the fight game kind of breaks through into the mainstream.
09:24The takes get crazy at him.
09:25And that's what happened after Saturday night.
09:27I feel the exact same way.
09:29Now, the New York Post exclusively reported over the weekend that MMA legend Conor McGregor going to return on July
09:36the 11th against Max Holloway at UFC 329.
09:40Going to be his first fight since 2021.
09:42What do you expect to see?
09:44Now, by the way, when I was growing up in Montreal, Adam, not to make this into a big thing,
09:48I used to walk to a local convenience store just to pick up the post.
09:52Just so I could read New York Knicks coverage.
09:54Because in the 90s, the Montreal Gazette certainly wasn't covering the New York Knicks.
09:58So I have an affinity for the New York Post.
10:01But I do have a bone to pick with the New York Post.
10:02Because I reported this months ago.
10:04And I didn't get any credit, any sourcing of that kind.
10:06So, Post, I love you guys.
10:08But a little respect will go along.
10:10I'm assuming this is the olive branch right here.
10:13That's right.
10:13This is the olive branch.
10:14So thank you for that.
10:15I appreciate it.
10:15That's why you're a mensch.
10:17This is a very big deal.
10:18He's the biggest star in the history of the sport.
10:20As you said, he had not fought in five years since 2021.
10:25Snapped his ankle.
10:26All kinds of things have happened.
10:27I mean, we could do a whole three-hour show on all of that.
10:30And I'm not trying to gloss over those things.
10:31But just a lot has happened in this guy's life.
10:33This is a massive, massive deal for the UFC and for Paramount Plus to get him back in the mix.
10:39Now, he's fighting a guy in Max Holloway who he beat back in 2013.
10:43But that was at 145.
10:44This fight is at 170.
10:46Max Holloway has had a tremendous career.
10:48He's been very active.
10:49Obviously, since then, in the last five years, he's fought a ton more than Conor.
10:53In fact, he last fought in March.
10:54And so this is a tough one for Conor to come back to.
10:57I think a lot of people thought that they would book him against someone who is a little bit, you
11:01know, a little lesser as far as talent is concerned.
11:04But here's the big story.
11:05This is the big business story.
11:07Conor comes back.
11:08They didn't sign him to an extension.
11:10They wanted to.
11:11He didn't want to.
11:11So Conor has two fights left.
11:13And so he's got this one on July 11th and then presumably one first, second quarter of 2027.
11:19And then what happens?
11:20With the streaming world, with Netflix, with Amazon, all these people paying big top dollar for sports.
11:26Could you imagine a Conor McGregor fight on the open market?
11:29What do you think?
11:30What do you think Netflix would pay for that?
11:32They would pay a lot of money, I could tell you.
11:35And so that to me is almost as interesting.
11:36Let's see how he looks in this fight.
11:38Let's see how he looks in that second fight.
11:40And let's see what kind of dollars he could command around this time next year.
11:44Ariel, we're about a month away from the long-awaited UFC events being held on the White House lawn,
11:49which is going to be wild.
11:51What are you hearing about this and the expectations?
11:55Well, yeah, it is going to be wild.
11:56What a scene.
11:57I mean, like, it's going to be must-see TV.
11:59It's on a Sunday night, by the way, June 14th.
12:01Not your typical Saturday.
12:03Why that is, I'm not sure.
12:04But it just so happens to be Donald Trump's birthday.
12:07So did they maybe do it for that reason?
12:09I don't know.
12:09You be the judge.
12:10It's going to be very unique.
12:12A lot of people were mad when the card was announced.
12:14I said it was an A card, meaning I gave it a grade A because I liked it.
12:19You have Ilya Teporia.
12:20You have Alex Pereira.
12:21You've got Sugar Sean O'Malley.
12:23You've got some stars.
12:24The UFC is maybe a little bit lacking these days in stars, but they put some big names on there.
12:28Maybe not in the matches that we wanted them to be in.
12:31But still, nevertheless, the spectacle is going to be tremendous.
12:34And they're going to do a great job.
12:36And to me, it's very rare that the venue becomes part of the draw.
12:40But I think even if you are not an MMA fan, you are going to be curious on a Sunday
12:44night in June to see what an MMA fight looks like on the White House lawn.
12:49Here's something that's interesting that came up this week.
12:52Dana White was doing an interview with Rich Kleiman, and he mentioned that he was just at the White House
12:56for an event a couple of weeks ago.
12:58And he noticed being outside that there were a ton of gnats, that there were a lot of bugs and
13:03insects.
13:04And he started to panic because he's like, what's going to happen when all the lights are out there and
13:08the whole thing is built for the fighters and the cage and whatnot?
13:11And all these gnats come out, all these insects.
13:13We've never had a situation like this.
13:15This is going to be like Joba Chamberlain in Cleveland way back in the day, if you recall.
13:19There's only been one outdoor UFC event.
13:22It was in April of 2010, UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi.
13:26I was lucky enough to be there.
13:27That was in the desert.
13:28And Dana White has said since then, it gives him too much anxiety.
13:31He's afraid about the rain.
13:33He's afraid about the elements, the weather, all that stuff and more.
13:36And so it was one and done until this opportunity came up.
13:39And so up until this point, we've heard about the weather.
13:41And I remember, by the way, June 14th last year, I remember it was my son's bar mitzvah, and it
13:46was raining all day that day.
13:47So I remember what the weather was like.
13:49Like, what happens if it's raining?
13:51We don't know.
13:52And then what happens if there's an attack of gnats that hit the cage?
13:55And so there's a few issues at play.
13:57I can tell you this.
13:58I know this for a fact.
13:59Dana White and the UFC staff, they are going to be thrilled come June 15th when this is all said
14:04and done because it has been a massive, massive undertaking for them.
14:07I mean, I wouldn't miss it.
14:09Simple as that.
14:10There's no way I would ever miss this in terms of an event.
14:13Now, you referenced Dana White.
14:14I mean, your rapport, your relationship with Dana, we've had the conversation before.
14:18It's been chronicled over the years.
14:22How would you describe it, Ariel, as we speak right now?
14:25My relationship with Dana White is nonexistent.
14:28We don't have a relationship.
14:29The last time I spoke to Dana White was 2016.
14:32At a few press conferences, I've asked questions.
14:34But in terms of like a real private conversation, it was in 2016.
14:38And just for the record, I often do interviews like this and I get asked about them and then it
14:43gets clipped off and people say, oh, here's Ariel complaining or whining.
14:46I have no issues with the state of my relationship.
14:49Of course, as you know, in this business, you want to have a good, respectful relationship with everyone that you
14:54cover.
14:55Do I wish it was better?
14:56Absolutely.
14:57But do I understand that that's just the way the cookie crumbled here?
15:00Yeah, no problem.
15:01And I exist and he exists and they don't stop me from doing my job and we talk to the
15:06fighters and we're able to comment.
15:07It's a free world and a free press.
15:09And so it doesn't change anything that I do.
15:13And in fact, I will say when I did have a very good relationship with him, there were times where,
15:18you know, given how, you know, how intimidating he can be sometimes, especially when you're a young reporter, you kind
15:25of had to bite your tongue a few times.
15:27Now I don't have to do that anymore.
15:28I don't get that call where someone's yelling at me and I got to put the phone like out here
15:33because it's so loud.
15:34And I'm living in a 700 square foot apartment and my wife's in the corner being like, what was that
15:39all about?
15:39And so I don't get those calls anymore.
15:41And that's kind of nice.
15:42But of course, yeah, I wish that it was better.
15:45But, you know, that's sometimes as a man that I look up to once said, Howard Cosell, you got to
15:50tell it like it is.
15:51And sometimes people don't like when you tell it like it is.
15:53And this is the byproduct of that.
15:56100%.
15:56All right.
15:56Final one for you, your Buffalo Bills.
15:58I want a Buffalo Bills championship for you and the Bills fans.
16:02I'm still not over that Brandon Cooks call.
16:05I feel like they've done a lot of great things this offseason.
16:07I was in favor of the coaching change.
16:09Love DJ Moore.
16:10Love Bradley Chubb.
16:12Josh, he turns 30 today.
16:13I think he'll be in the mix again for the MVP.
16:16How are you feeling about your Bills, Ariel, for this season?
16:20Well, first of all, I know you're a big Bills backer because every time I listen to you, whether it's
16:24here or on Sirius, you're always backing the Bills and showing us love.
16:27And we appreciate that.
16:28Trust me.
16:29Happy birthday, Mazel Tov, to Josh.
16:30I didn't know it was his birthday today, so this makes me very happy.
16:33And by the way, it killed me that my Canadians had to beat the Sabres in the playoffs.
16:37I have a great kinship.
16:38And I feel like we've been through so much, myself and the good people of Western New York.
16:42I want nothing but good things for those people.
16:44And so I hated that the Canadians had to beat the Sabres.
16:46Nevertheless, I was very much in favor of the coaching change.
16:51I will admit I was a little hesitant when I found out it was Brady.
16:55I was immediately won over at the press conference, and I'm all in on Brady.
16:59Brady's our guy.
17:00We have to back him.
17:01He's our guy.
17:01I love him.
17:02And I'd like to think that Josh is behind him as well.
17:05And so if Josh is in, I am in.
17:06I feel very good about where we stand.
17:08The Patriots are in shambles.
17:10The Jets are nothing.
17:11The Dolphins are in shambles.
17:13I think we're winning back the AFC East, and that's good news.
17:15We need home field.
17:17We need to get that number one seed.
17:19That's the one thing that has eluded us.
17:20We have not gotten that number one seed in this era.
17:23That's the one thing that we need to get that we haven't gotten.
17:26And so I think if we do that and we don't blow some of these stupid games in the middle
17:29of the season that we tend to blow, we'll be in good standing.
17:32But, Adam, is there a more depressed sports fan than me right now?
17:37In the past 12 months, I had Bills, Broncos.
17:41I had Knicks, Pacers.
17:42Obviously, we don't know how this is going to play out.
17:44Hopefully, this changes everything.
17:45And I had Jays, Dodgers.
17:47I mean, like, this is everything that we want.
17:49This is everything that we want.
17:51This is everything that we want as sports fans.
17:53And I keep getting to the precipice.
17:54I have not seen one of my teams win a championship in my lifetime.
17:57I lost my baseball team in 1994.
17:59I had to adopt a new team, and then I get my heart stomped on.
18:02Knicks, Bills, all that stuff.
18:04I just want one, and I want to watch sports never again.
18:07I want to be done with sports because it gives me so much agita.
18:10I just want one, check it off, and then I just want to go garden.
18:14That's it.
18:14I'm done.
18:15Ariel, you're the best.
18:16Go Knicks.
18:17Go Bills.
18:18Yes.
18:18I got to tell you, you're amazing.
18:20Keep up the unbelievable work, and we'll do it again real soon.
18:22Much love.
18:23Thank you, Adam.
18:24All the best.
18:24My guy, the best in the business, Ariel Hawani.
18:27That was unbelievable stuff.
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