Ariel Helwani is widely regarded as one of the very best journalists in MMA - although don't say that around Dana White - and his introduction to the highly anticipated first MMA Hour after Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor is a good example as to why.
Much has been said about the fight since it's conclusion, we've had analysis, debate, and an uncountable amount of memes, but nobody addressed the impact of the night, for all of it's faults, quite like Helwani as he gave an impassioned argument as to why the fight, which seemingly everybody thought would be the worst part of this entire event, was in fact the saving grace.
He started by correctly pointing out that the whole event was 'trending towards disaster' with the problems with the PPV, and the fact that the undercard saw less than 1000 people for the most of it, along with the seating issues and ticket prices, before hammering home how the main event saved the entire occasion as both fighters lived up to their word and offered a boxing match better than any Mayweather had been involved with in recent memory.
Helwani then went after the people who dismissed it as a "farce" or a "circus" and was adamant that there were no losers from the entire event.
He proved that he belonged in there, and the "farce" turned into a sport. And the "farce" ended up saving the night, how funny is that? Who would have thought that?
We all thought that the build-up would be the best part, in the end, the fight was the best part. In the end, in my opinion, everyone won.
Of course Floyd Mayweather won, he ends up 50-0, and he owes, in my opinion, Conor McGregor a huge debt of gratitude, why? Because now he walks off with an entertaining fight, a finish, and the bad taste that was Andre Berto, the bad taste that was Manny Pacquiao is gone. People are celebrating Floyd, saying that he represented, that he lived up to his word, that he came forward and fought aggressively. When's the last time we said that about Floyd?
And that, in my opinion, is thanks to Conor McGregor, who brought the fight to him.
Spot on.
He went on to outline how he believed McGregor won three or four of the rounds, and that he unquestionably came off well by proving that he could land shots on Mayweather, before rubbishing the idea that Floyd 'let him win' the early rounds.
So many people expected this fight to be a shit-show, but as Helwani rightly pointed out, it was pretty much the only thing that wasn't in this entire process.
It was a fantastic opening monologue and you can watch it in full, along with the rest of this week's episode of The MMA Hour, in full below:
