The number of incredible stories to emanate out of UFC 199 on Saturday in Inglewood, Calif., was, well, incredible.

On one night, Michael Bisping won the middleweight championship, the rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz was set, it was announced that Brock Lesnar would return to the UFC and that Fedor Emelianenko would compete on a show that will be live-streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

But none of it seemed to matter too much late Saturday and into Sunday. Instead, the sports world was talking about a reporter.

The UFC had decided to ban MMAFighting's Ariel Helwani, as well as two of his colleagues, E. Casey Lyden and Esther Lin. Helwani’s sin, apparently, was accurately reporting Lesnar’s return and the making of the McGregor-Diaz rematch before the UFC was able to announce the news during its pay-per view broadcast.

View photos Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta attend a Reebok partnership announcement in Dec. 2014. (Getty) More

UFC president Dana White failed to return messages seeking comment.

After initially declining to speak, an emotional Helwani spoke for about 15 minutes Sunday to Yahoo Sports.

“I was brought to the back by UFC [public relations] and told by Dana White that I had to leave the arena,” said Helwani, who said it happened just prior to the main event. “Dana mentioned that from what I recalled that Brock Lesnar was upset the news was released early and that this could have ruined their deal.

“He repeatedly said, ‘Go cover Bellator. We don’t want you here.’ … I said, ‘What did I do wrong?’ He said, ‘You’re too negative.’ "

Helwani said he had confirmed both reports with two sources. He said he held no ill will toward White or UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, but said he did not regret reporting the news.

Helwani, who used to work part-time for Fox as part of its UFC coverage team, was fired from that job earlier this year, reportedly because of an interview with a UFC fighter where the fighter praised the concept of free agency.

He said UFC officials suspect he has a “mole,” who is giving him information.

“I never go off one source anyway, so I guess they’re saying now there are two moles,” Helwani said. “But with God as my witness, there is no ‘mole.’ Honestly, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this. I’m almost embarrassed because people are saying, ‘You’re standing up for journalism.’

“I’m not doing any great investigative journalism here. This is not ground-breaking stuff. I’m not going to win a Pulitzer for this.”

By looking at it, it appears that UFC executives are upset Helwani upstaged their announcements and decided to take the most egregious action they could.

It’s a short-sighted decision that does nothing to help the UFC in its efforts to sell tickets and pay-per-views to its shows.

A media credential is a privilege, not a right, and none of us “deserve” a credential. Nor is this, as some have suggested, a First Amendment violation. Helwani’s free speech is not being violated. He can, and undoubtedly will, continue to say and write what he wants.

Instead, this is a case of White and Fertitta being men who are extraordinarily passionate about controlling every last detail of the way their product is presented. They obsess over the smallest of things, like their choice last year to change the font on the graphics they use for television.

As a result, they’re failing to see the bigger picture in this case. They’re so immersed in the minute details that they are ignoring the obvious.

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