Manager defends Tyler Manawaroa, says 'TUF' contestant not racist

Tyler Manawaroa‘s manager believes the UFC is trying to wash its hands of the New Zealand-born fighter without considering all the facts surrounding an Instagram photo he posted that led the promotion to announce his pending release from contract.

Tony Green, who also co-founded the Australian gym at which Manawaroa now trains, Integrated MMA, emphatically denied the 19-year-old MMA middleweight is a racist and said he would never coach or publicly defend him if he thought otherwise.

“I can understand [the UFC is] concerned with the way the company is portrayed and who they attach themselves to,” Green today told MMAjunkie. “But as far as I’m concerned, they’ve overreacted for their own benefit rather then taken into consideration the actual facts of the situation.”

Green said he hasn’t spoken to Manawaroa since passing along word of his UFC release, which came on Tuesday, and is concerned about the young fighter’s mental well-being. He hoped Manawaroa was reading the comments of a Facebook support page, which has drawn over 5,000 likes, and planned to call Manawaroa’s family.

“He’s taken it pretty badly,” Green said. “He’s of dark-skinned native descent himself. I can only imagine having other dark-skinned people calling him racist. It’s probably one of the worst things that can be said to you.

“I hope he reads the support he’s gotten, because Australians, yeah, they might think we’re a bit behind the times, but when it’s a worthy cause and someone’s been done wrong, people come out of the woodwork in support. I don’t want people not to support the UFC and get angry at any one individual in particular. I just want the UFC to have a proper look at it.”

Since word of the 2012 image spread online, Manawaroa, a 10-0 professional of Maori descent who currently stars on “The Ultimate Fighter: Nations,” has faced a hailstorm of criticism and verbal attacks for a post he made when he was 17. On Sunday, he briefly defended himself on social media before going silent, calling the picture “obviously a joke” and adding “racism isn’t funny.”

One of his initial attackers, fellow “TUF: Nations” contestant Kajan Johnson, recently posted an apology to Manawaroa after calling attention to the photo and calling him a racist.

“I understand now, that the post wasn’t intended to hurt people,” Johnson wrote. “However, unfortunately, remarks such as these can and will hurt people, regardless of the intent. All in all, I would like to apologize to Tyler for how I handled this particular situation. I never anticipated that his contract would be revoked nor was that my wish for him.”

The UFC on Tuesday released a statement which said Manawaroa will be cut no matter how he performs on the reality show. The industry-leading fight promotion maintains a code of conduct that bars fighters from “insulting language, symbols, or actions about a person’s ethnic background, heritage, color, race, national origin, age, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation.”

As Manawaroa explained to Green, the Instagram image, which he posted as an underage minor, was meant ironically as a reflection of “how he was thought of himself.”

“That was, to him, a joke to share with his friends that have grown up with him and know how he’s been treated,” Green said. “If there was any thought to him being a racist, not only would we have kicked him out of the gym as a young fella, there would be no way in the world I’d be supporting him.”

Manawaroa recently advanced to the reality show tournament’s semifinal round. Green said the UFC recently sent him notice that when the show concludes, the fighter’s contract is terminated.

At the time of his release, Green said, Manawaroa was preparing to appear on the show’s finale, which takes place April 16 in Montreal, Quebec. He already has received offers from various promotions, but Green said the UFC opportunity “was his future.”

“I know people say he’s young and he’ll get another chance in the future, but to put all of your hopes into that contest in Canada, and to represent Australia as he did and show why everyone in such high regard, and to have that taken away, it was unnecessary to go to that extent,” he said. “He should have been given an opportunity, like anyone else, to have a bit of counseling as far as his mindset.

“He was 17 years old. Hells bells, I would have hated to have people dig up every silly thing I did when I was 17. To me, it doesn’t give fair consideration to him as a young man.”

Green said he didn’t initially see what Manawaroa posted but reached out nonetheless to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva when the controversy broke out. He didn’t speak about Manawaroa’s background, as he wasn’t under the impression that the fighter’s contract was in imminent danger.

“Joe seemed to think it was no big drama,” Green said. “It’s just one of those silly little joke Instagram photos that gets passed from person to person. We’ve all seen them before. He said we’ll be in contact.

“He didn’t even call me; I had to call from Australia, and he went, ‘I’ve got bad news. Our legal people have spoken to us, and we can’t defend what he’s done.’”

Green said the UFC isn’t taking Manawaroa’s age or background into consideration and is losing out on a standout talent.

“Tyler is the guy on that show with the character and personality and potential to be the best guy in the future, as far as that series,” he said. “To me, they probably said, ‘Let’s get rid of him. If he’s good enough, we’ll get him in the future when things cool down.’

“That’s all well and good for them, but that’s not good for the young fella and the people who have put in the time and are trying to get him on a good track in life.”

Green indicated the initial outcry from Johnson may have been informed by a less-than-amiable relationship with Manawaroa on the reality show, saying he did it “out of spite” and “stuck a knife into one of his own people.” He added that Johnson recently reached out to express his regret at calling attention to the image.

Reached for comment, Johnson referred MMAjunkie to a posting on his personal website in which he describes himself as an advocate for “anti-racism.” He wrote that his reaction to the picture was informed by he and his family’s past struggles with discrimination.

In the post, he also acknowledges jumping to the conclusion that Manawaroa is racist before gathering all the facts.

Green said Silva told him that Manawaroa might be invited back if “he was seen helping kids and doing the right thing.” But, he added, “pretending to do this or pretending to do that to prove he’s not racist … we’ve got nothing to prove. There’s no basis in it. It’s just wrong, at the end of the day.

“It’s not the brightest thing in the world. He doesn’t realize that this sort of crap is going to be dug up and turned around to hurt him. He just doesn’t think like that. He’s still a lad as far as how social media and professional sports is under the microscope.”

For more on the TUF Nations Finale, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.