UFC won't offer Tyler Manawaroa contract no matter how far he advances on TUF

Earlier this week, The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia middleweight Tyler Manawaroa made the MMA news rounds when it was discovered he had posted racist content on his Instagram account several months prior to his appearance on the reality show.

The 19 year old, unbeaten Australian issued an apology via his Facebook account and also removed the offensive image. The damage has been done, though, and the UFC issued a statement to Bleacher Report's Jeremy Botter:

The UFC organization had hired an investigation company in Australia to conduct thorough background investigations on potential contestants for The Ultimate Fighter Nations television series. Unfortunately, the background checks did not uncover all of the social media history by contestant Tyler Manawaroa. The UFC is committed to having an environment that is free from discrimination. Consequently, UFC has notified Manawaroa that regardless of how far he advances in the completed television series, the organization will not be offering him a contract to compete in the UFC.

With social media being such an important part of most athlete's fanbase, it stands to reason that background checks should warrant much closer scrutiny of these accounts. To the prospective athletes looking to get a leg up onto the largest platform in MMA, being conscientious about what is put out for public consumption is absolutely a smart course of action.