Exclusive | Ariel Helwani is ready to go beyond being just an MMA guy

From “being banned” from Las Vegas to having his face draped all over The Venetian, Ariel Helwani’s rise in combat sports has been shocking, if not bizarre. The popular MMA journalist is now set to launch on Oct.14 his new Uncrowned site that will combine all three combat sports — MMA, boxing and professional wrestling — under one umbrella.“It’s my Grantland, if you will,” Helwani told The Post in an exclusive interview, referencing the former sports and pop culture website started by Bill Simmons.“We are creating one super-duper vertical.

There will be great features, great columns, great reactions.What I really want, in particular, is … good, smart stuff.

It’s why I’m so excited for Chuck (Mindenhall), Ben (Fowles), Keith Idec, Cam Hawkins on the wrestling side of things … All of these people I trust, I just want to see good, quality storytelling and writing and reaction pieces and columns and features.“I know for a fact there’s not a place you can get that kind of quality on all three entities.”He will also retire his former show, “The MMA Hour,” and it will be rebranded in a new studio, “The Ariel Helwani Show.”Behind the scenes, Helwani credits his agent, Jerry, with helping him create the magic of his latest business deal with Yahoo!“I wanted to take the next step in terms of being a leader and being a boss,” Helwani said.

“I’ve been taking a lot of opportunities to show that I am not just an MMA guy anymore.”That pivot came in 2016 when UFC president Dana White threw Helwani out of an event for allegedly reporting on a fight that was to be announced later that night. Helwani vehemently denies the accusation and the two have had about as bad a relationship as could be since then. That night, Helwani was told his journalism career was over, but it turns out that it was just getting started. “I don’t really think about him much anymore,” Helwani said when asked if he thought about White seeing his fa...