Aug 10, 2019; Montevideo, MO, Uruguay; Vicente "The Silent Assassin" Luque (red gloves) vs. Mike "Platinum" Perry (blue gloves) during UFC at Antel Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Perry’s manager says he doesn’t condone N-word use but understands where he’s coming from
Mike Perry was recently ridiculed online for the use of the N-word. It was also not the first time he used it on social media and has said in the past he is two percent African so it is okay.
Yet, many fighters, including Angela Hill, were not fans of it. According to his manager, Abe Kawa, it is Perry who runs his own social media but he hopes he can help guide his clients to what to tweet and what not to.
“One thing I can’t do, and I’ve been blamed many times in the past for, I don’t run their social media,” Kawa said to MMA Junkie. “I can’t tell people what to do and not do, I can only give them advice. I can show them, ‘Hey, this is where you’re going to lose out on things.’ In this case, Mike, if we would take the time to actually listen to Mike, you would understand where he was coming from.”
Although Mike Perry said he can use the language, Abe Kawa doesn’t condone it. But, he says he understands why Perry is using it due to his upbringing and where he grew up.
“I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do,” Kawa said. “So I don’t want to put myself out there and say what he’s doing is the right thing to do. But for him and the way he grew up and the way his beginning was, it’s right. So, I get it. For the person who is not used to that and for the person who doesn’t get it, for me, I don’t go around doing that just the same way. I may have in the past and whatnot. But for him, for what he feels is right, it’s hard for me to change that in one shot.
“He would have to go to jail for that. It would have to be a law that says you’re doing something wrong. That’s the way he sees it. He feels that everybody else is being closed-minded, where he’s the one trying to educate everybody. And it just doesn’t come out that way. So I understand the hurt.”
In the end, Kawa believes that upbringing has resulted in the way Perry acts and talks.
“I think the stigma of what he’s doing is probably way more blown up in the media than actually to the common folks,” Kawa said. “If you look at the comments, once one person says something, everyone kind of goes in there. But then you have the other side of it, where everyone is like, ‘Why are you guys messing with him? He came from where I came from. I get it, Mike.’ So he’s getting a 50-50 split of people saying to him don’t do it, and then the other 50 percent saying, ‘We understand you, it’s OK.’ So Mike is gonna be Mike; we all have to love Mike.”
