Brock Lesnar celebrates after defeating Frank Mir in their heavyweight title bout at UFC 100 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas Saturday, July 11, 2009. A reporter says his credentials were revoked from a UFC fight over his report that WWE star and former UFC heavyweight champion Lesnar was close to fighting again for the organization. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, John Locher** LAS VEGAS SUN OUT MAGS OUT NO SALES ONLINE USAGE OK **
Republished June 06, 2016 - 8:25 PM
Original Publication Date June 05, 2016 - 1:25 PM
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A Canadian 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, a Montreal native, posted that he only reported news, didn't do anything unethical and then was "told we're banned for life."
MMAfighting.com is part of the larger sports news website SBNation.com.
UFC issued a statement Monday night saying that "following a conversation with the editorial team at SB Nation," they would not ban 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," the statement read. "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."
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.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016