So I’m sitting on my couch as the UFC 199 main event comes to a close, and obviously I’m beginning to suspect that I have fallen into some bizarre dream.

There’s no other plausible explanation, really, because the image on my TV is of Michael Bisping wearing the UFC middleweight title, grinning like he’s won the lottery. Then I’m looking at the replay, which confirms that Bisping (29-7 MMA, 19-7 UFC) didn’t just beat rival Luke Rockhold (15-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC), he knocked him out cold. That’s when I realize that no, I’m not having a dream, because if I were I would have been jolted awake by the sheer absurdity of it by now. What I’m experiencing is nothing less than a vivid hallucination.

In other words, I didn’t see this one coming. Matter of fact, I didn’t see this whole event coming, for better and worse.

On paper, UFC 199, which aired on pay-per-view from The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., looked like a good but not great lineup topped off by two rematches that were predictable, though not unenjoyable, blood feuds. In reality, it was one of the best UFC events of the year, filled with gutsy performances, incredible feats of skill and endurance, and outcomes that ranged from mildly surprising to almost literally unbelievable.

The best bantamweight in the world, Dominick Cruz (22-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC), slammed the door shut once and for all on his rivalry with Urijah Faber (33-9 MMA, 9-5 UFC).

MMA’s ageless wonder, Dan Henderson (32-14 MMA, 9-8 UFC), put Hector Lombard (34-6-1 MMA, 3-4 UFC) to sleep with an elbow that looked like something out of motorcycle gang’s guide to brutal bar fighting.

Max Holloway (16-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) defeated fellow featherweight Ricardo Lamas (16-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and won his ninth consecutive fight in the world’s longest audition for a title shot. And the UFC announced a date for the highly anticipated Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor rematch, as well as the return of that enigma in a crew cut, Brock Lesnar.

What a time to be a fight fan, I found myself thinking as Bisping stood there in the octagon, patting that gold belt like he couldn’t believe it was real. If only the night’s news had ended there.

But see, the thing that spoiled the evening for me was when I looked on Twitter and saw a missive from Ariel Helwani (via Twitter), the MMAFighting.com reporter who broke the news that Lesnar was in talks to return to the cage shortly before the UFC 200 promo confirmed it.

According to Helwani, not long after he reported that scoop UFC staff escorted him out of the building, relieved him of his media credential, and – again, according to Helwani’s characterization of events – told he was “banned for life” (via Twitter):

I was escorted out of the building by Zuffa staff before the main event. Credential taken away, too. Didn't see Bisping realize his dream. — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 5, 2016

I love this sport & this job with all my heart. Did nothing unethical. I reported fight news. That's it. & then told we're banned for life. — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 5, 2016

His sin, based on what we know now, was reporting news before the UFC wanted it reported. Not reporting it inaccurately or obtaining the information unethically, mind you, but reporting the truth just slightly before the UFC could announce it on its own terms.

And see, that’s not what I wanted to write about after such a great event. I wanted to write about Bisping, who achieved what seemed like a nearly impossible dream after a career’s worth of near misses.

I wanted to write about Rockhold, who went from broken hearted ex-champ to seething and sour in the time it took to walk from the cage to the post-fight press conference.

Related New champ Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold go right back at it after UFC 199 upset

I wanted to write about Cruz’s upwardly trending brilliance and Faber’s attempt to be gracious in defeat while also setting up a surrogate to do the work that he couldn’t quite complete.

If the UFC hadn’t lashed out in such a dumb, petty way, that’s all I’d be writing about right now. It’s all any of us would be talking about. Well, that and the mounting insanity of UFC 200. It would have been nothing but good news all around for the UFC, but apparently the UFC officials didn’t want it that way.

They had to spoil their own party, and for what? Because a reporter did his job?

Not only is it pointless (did anyone out there feel disappointed or even slightly less excited about the Lesnar news just because Helwani reported it first?), it’s also counter-productive. It distracts us from the message the UFC is trying to send. It distracts us from the events of the entire night, while accomplishing nothing positive.

When MMAjunkie’s own John Morgan asked UFC Vice President of Public Relations Dave Sholler for a comment on the situation at the post-fight press conference, Sholler refused to discuss it. When I reached out to Helwani, he confirmed that it was his understanding that he’d been ejected for his reporting, but declined to go into more detail.

The UFC is a private company, and it can allow or disallow anyone it likes at its events, but there’s not a single good reason to toss a reporter out just because he was better at his job than was convenient for you. It’s purely vindictive. It’s embarrassing and amateurish.

I realize that, to a lot of fans, it probably doesn’t matter. If your interest in MMA and the UFC starts with the TV going on and ends the moment it goes off, what do you care whether the UFC goes after a reporter? I get that.

But as a media member, I don’t have that luxury. If I don’t speak up in support of a colleague who did nothing wrong, then I’d be part of the problem. I’d be essentially telling UFC officials that it’s perfectly acceptable to attack reporters for reporting, and it’s not.

So while I’d like to dedicate this column solely to UFC 199 and all the action that took place inside the chain-link, I can’t. Not if I want to feel halfway good about myself once I snap the laptop shut for the night.

For complete coverage of UFC 199, check out the UFC Events section of the site.