MMA Fighting


MMA Fighting is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts. Founded in 2001, the site is notable for its breaking news coverage. Additionally, the site hosts the popular MMA interview show The MMA Hour and commentary show The MMA Beat.

Overview

MMAFighting.com was launched by Ray Hui in 2001, initially as an Angelfire site.
In 2009, MMAFighting.com was acquired by AOL. In 2011, it was sold to their current owners, Vox Media, where they now are a part of SB Nation.
MMA Fighting features several writers, including senior editor Luke Thomas who is notable on MMAFighting.com as a and regular panelist on The MMA Beat web series previously moderated by MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, and for his weekly webcast Promotional Malpractice and podcast Monday Morning Analyst. Dave Meltzer, who reports mainly on the business aspect of MMA, as well as Chuck Mindenhall, who writes about the storylines penetrating the MMA community.
A 2 million unique users per month website reported in 2011, and currently the #3 most popular MMA media & news website worldwide according to Alexa Internet.

UFC 199 controversy

On June 4, 2016, during the UFC 199 PPV, Ariel Helwani, photographer Esther Lin, and videographer E. Casey Leydon, who were all credentialed as part of MMA Fighting an in attendance at the event, were escorted out of the building. Helwani later said that their credentials were taken away and that they were banned from UFC events. Helwani earlier reported the return of Brock Lesnar at UFC 200, hours before UFC announced it on the broadcast, without notifying UFC first. According to UFC commentator Joe Rogan, Helwani was asked to not report this news, as management suspected a mole had leaked it to him and, without knowing who it was, would then have to fire all possible moles. Through Twitter, Helwani called Rogan's story "100% inaccurate."
On June 6, after an outpouring of support from fans and UFC fighters, UFC rescinded the ban. In a statement, they said that "following a conversation with the editorial team at SB Nation, UFC will not prevent MMAFighting.com from receiving media credentials to cover live UFC events. We respect the role the media plays in our sport and beyond, including MMAFighting's ability to report news. However, in our opinion, we believe the recurring tactics used by its lead reporter extended beyond the purpose of journalism. We feel confident our position has now been adequately communicated to the SB Nation editorial team."

Awards

In the World MMA Awards, MMA Fighting has won the award for "Media Source of the Year" a total of four times, including three consecutively between 2015 and 2017. Additionally, Ariel Helwani, who is a former employee of MMA Fighting, has won the award for "MMA Journalist of the Year" every year since 2010.

The MMA Hour

MMA Fighting hosts The MMA Hour, a weekly show hosted by Luke Thomas that featured interviews with various names in mixed martial arts, including fighters, promoters, agents, coaches, and journalists.
The MMA Hour was formerly hosted by Ariel Helwani, with whom it gained its notoriety. He left MMA Fighting, and by proxy The MMA Hour, in June 2018.
Throughout the years, many news stories have broken on The MMA Hour, including several retirement announcements, such as Jason Miller, Rafael Natal, Mike Pyle, Urijah Faber and Daniel Cormier.