Tyler Manawaroa (photo) will not be hired by the UFC for racist posting. Photo: Disclosure/UFC
Tyler Manawaroa, participant of reality show The Ultimate Fighter: Canada x Australia, will not be hired by the UFC regardless of his performance on the television show.
A year and a half ago, the fighter posted on his social network account Instagram a photo with racist words. The image showed a black child inside a supermarket cart, with the caption “get used to being behind bars”, as well as other offensive terms.
The post only came to light thanks to another participant in the reality show, Canadian Kajan Johnson. The fighter forwarded the image to Team Canada's coach, Patrick Côté, asking if he had any idea that there was a racist inside the house. Côté responded succinctly: 'Wow! What a loser!'
The UFC quickly took a stance on the matter, regretting the post and already ruling out a future signing of Manawaroa. See below the organization's statement, sent to the North American website Bleacher Report:
“The UFC hired an investigation company in Australia to check the background of potential participants in The Ultimate Fighter Nations. Unfortunately, the check did not cover Tyler Manawaroa's entire social media history. The UFC is committed to having an environment that is free from discrimination. Consequently, the UFC has notified Manawaroa that, regardless of his participation in the television program, the organization will not offer him a contract to compete in the UFC.”
After the controversy broke out, Manawaroa, a descendant of Maoris (a native people of New Zealand), deleted the image and apologized for what happened. However, it was too late:
“I posted an image on Instagram that offended people. My apologies! As you can imagine, that was never the intention. As a dark-skinned person, having dealt with racism my entire life, I was making fun of the stereotype that all dark-skinned people go to jail. This is obviously not true. Hence the irony. I deleted the image and I'm sorry I offended everyone.”
Manawaroa is 19 years old and is undefeated after ten fights in professional MMA. With the current events, this could be the first time in the history of The Ultimate Fighter in which the champion will not be hired by the UFC, as the fighter was classified for the semifinals of the program.
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