Episode 97 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features three guests who are prominent voices in MMA media: Ariel Helwani, a writer and broadcaster for MMAfighting.com and the host of The MMA Hour; Luke Thomas, who writes and broadcasts for MMAFighting.com and SB Nation, and is the host of SiriusXM's 'The Luke Thomas Show' on SiriusXM RUSH; and Jonathan Snowden, a senior writer for Bleacher Report who covers MMA and boxing for the site. Snowden is also the author of "The MMA Encyclopedia."

In this podcast, the three guests discuss Ronda Rousey’s relationship with the media; how they viewed Rousey not doing any press or open workouts prior to UFC 207; whether this opens the door for other fighters to avoid press prior to pay per view events; why Rousey was more accessible to non-MMA media; the canard from those in the sports media who called Rousey a fraud or media creation; the relationship between Dana White and the MMA press; whether MMA media will form some kind of membership union to raise awareness of issues; why MMA media must think digital-first; what social media is like for each of them; how to start covering the sport; whether MMA media has a diversity issue among its ranks; how Helwani feels about Fox Sports six months after the network let him go at the behest of UFC; and much more.

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