Saudi business deals connect PFL, Yahoo, Uncrowned
And these conflicts of interest may explain why The Uncrowned sat on news of a comatose PFL fighter
You’ve read all the warnings, especially from our friend Karim Zidan, about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s attempts at sportswashing. That term just doesn’t resonate with the general public because it means a million things to a million people.
The Saudis want to finance combat sports? Most fans and media members don’t care as long as they book the fights fans want.
We saw this with PRIDE and the yakuza. What’s the big deal? Everyone is dirty.
Those who warned about sportswashing could point out to silly things like Turki cameos on videos, the singing of the Saudi National Anthem at Wembley in the UK, and a bunch of other bullshit that — while offensive — didn’t exactly draw sustained outrage in a combat sports scene that has few rules or boundaries left.
However, a real example of the power of sportswashing has surfaced and it’s exactly the kind of story that highlights what people are willing to do in the name of censorship in exchange for their world patrons.
Those who finance the fights and control the press can shape the message they want the world to hear. The fight business has always been full of sycophants and bootlickers.
It may be worse than ever today because the biggest promoters in combat sports are world governments. They call the shots. All you needed to see was the ass-kissing this past weekend at the UFC 308 press conference in Abu Dhabi over Power Slap.
Unnamed reporter: First of all I owe you an apology. I was one of the people that hated Power Slap. I did the commentary in Arabic for (Power Slap) last time and my God you're 100% right. We are all wrong. I respect you so much. Seriously that Power Slap (is) amazing.
We are seeing this sportswashing marriage at play with a new Triangle featuring The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, new Yahoo! owners Apollo Global Management (who are also big investors in Saudi’s Aramco), and Ariel Helwani’s Uncrowned which is in partnership with Yahoo!
We’ve already expressed our skepticism that Uncrowned will be a departure from Ariel Helwani’s well-established pattern of establishing cozy relationships with fight promotions and managers who provide him with access and interviews.
But recent developments have shocked even hardened cynics such as ourselves.
PFL fighter was in a coma for over a month — and no one knew?
On October 19, Women's MMA Rankings tweeted that PFL fighter Daiane “Lady Dai” Silva had been in a coma since a botched weight cut on September 14.
This news inspired the normally apolitical Caposa/Grabaka Hitman to comment his dismay. Caposa, who’s earned his place as one of the most respected, least controversial widely-followed accounts on MMA Twitter posted the following:
A PFL/Bellator fighter is apparently hospitalized in a coma. Surprised this has been kept under wraps for over a month.
This inspired a new twist when Drake Riggs, formerly of MMA Mania but newly hired at Ariel Helwani’s Uncrowned posted in reply:
Can confirm she was in a coma and is still there, although her current status is unknown. Everything has been eerily quiet as I’ve been tracking this story since it happened… it’s been kept under wraps because PFL and employees have been explicitly told not to talk about it.
This inspired some back and forth with Riggs and various interlocutors that frankly raised more questions than answers.
The MMA Draw reached out to Riggs but he declined to reply on the record.
While there is absolutely no reason to doubt Riggs’ version of events, the history of his employer at Uncrowned and more importantly, the tangled web of business relationships between the publication, their parent company, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the PFL does give us pause.
We mentioned these ties above but let’s review in-depth.