Jason Miller (fighter)


Jason Nicholas Miller best known as Mayhem Miller is an American mixed martial arts fighter and TV host. Miller coaches fighters in Irvine, California at Mayhem Martial Arts and has trained extensively with Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, California. He has fought in the UFC, Strikeforce, WFA, WEC and DREAM. In his career, Miller beat Robbie Lawler, Tim Kennedy, Denis Kang and Kazushi Sakuraba, among others. Miller was the host of MTV's reality series Bully Beatdown.

Early life

Miller was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and he grew up in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Miller's father was an 82nd Airborne paratrooper in the United States Army. After Miller was expelled from high school for fighting, he and his family had to move 40 miles so that he could go to school in a new district. Miller knew he wanted to compete professionally. He earned his yellow belt in Taekwondo at age 11 and joined his new High school's wrestling team and would challenge the instructors of karate schools to spar. He was guided by a judo instructor to attend one of the first mixed martial arts schools. Miller had his first fight in Virginia Beach when he was 17 years old, against 27-year-old Al "Superman" Dill. Miller won the fight and officially began his MMA career.

Mixed martial arts career

After his submission win over Ronald Jhun, earning Miller his first Superbrawl Championship, a riot broke out and Miller was punched in the back of the head by a fellow fighter, Mark Moreno. This set the stage for a grudge match, and Miller dominated Moreno, finishing him with an armbar at the end of round one making the shaka sign before finishing him.
On September 2, 2006, Mayhem won the Icon Sport Middleweight title from Robbie Lawler in a back and forth battle. After being staggered and nearly finished by Lawler, Mayhem secured an arm triangle choke and won in the third round. In December of the same year, Mayhem lost his first title defense to Frank Trigg via TKO in the second round, a fight many thought he was the favorite to win.
Mayhem stepped into the Dream 4 tournament on short notice and scored an impressive win in the semifinals, he was eliminated by Ronaldo Souza in the quarterfinals. Miller lost a unanimous decision to "Jacare" in a fast-paced grappling style bout that saw him escape submission after submission.
After back and forth battles of words on Japanese, Brazilian and American media, Miller and Souza fought again, but this time for the Dream Middleweight belt. The fight ended in a no-contest when Miller landed a soccer kick to Souza's forehead, which opened a large gash and prompted a doctor stoppage. Both fighters agreed to face each other in an event in September 2009. The match was canceled after Souza signed with the Strikeforce promotion.
Miller fought Jake Shields on November 7, 2009 on CBS as a part of. The fight was for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship as Cung Le stepped down as champion. After a brief punching exchange that staggered Shields, the fight was mostly grappling, Miller lost via unanimous decision. The closest the match came to ending was in the third round when Miller secured a rear naked choke on Shields, but time ended before Shields tapped out.
Mayhem fought Tim Stout at on April 17, 2010 and won the fight by with a ground and pound TKO at 1:47 of the first round.
Miller was expected to face Robbie Lawler on June 16, 2010 at, but was removed from the card after the Tennessee Athletic Commission suspended him for his part in the Nashville Brawl. After Shields' win over UFC veteran and former Pride FC Welterweight and Middlweight Champion Dan Henderson, Mayhem confronted Jake Shields for a title rematch. Although Jake was not surprised, Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz, and the rest of Team Gracie fought with Miller in the cage, prompting CBS announcer Gus Johnson to say "Gentlemen, we are on national television."
Although Mayhem aggressively called out Nick Diaz, the bout never materialized. Mayhem instead fought Kazushi Sakuraba on September 25, at Dream 16. In pre-fight interviews, Mayhem stated that he wished to be one of the only people to submit Sakuraba, "the Gracies couldn't do it, I want to". He would go on to do just that, and win the fight via arm triangle choke.
On April 22, 2011, Miller announced via Twitter that he had signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC due to his Strikeforce contract expiring.

Strikeforce: Nashville brawl

On April 17, 2010, following Jake Shields' victory over Dan Henderson, Miller entered the cage, without proper approval, during Shields' post-fight interview. During that interview, Mayhem interrupted Shields and asked "Where's my rematch, buddy?" Gilbert Melendez and Shields responded by pushing Miller away, and Nick Diaz then threw a punch at Miller which started a brawl. Members of the Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu camp, including Melendez, Nick and Nate Diaz, attacked Miller while he was held down on the canvas by other members of the Gracie camp. The fight was eventually broken up by referees, members of Dan Henderson's corner and the promoter's security personnel.
Miller and five other participants in the brawl were each given three-month suspensions, and fines ranging between $5,000 and $7,500.
Following the events of the Nashville Brawl, Miller expressed an interest in fighting Nick Diaz. The 170-pound Diaz refused, stating he was the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion and needed to continue to fight at that weight. He requested Miller move down to 170 lb to fight him. Miller continued to attempt to set up a fight, offering 183 lb as a catchweight. Diaz counter-offered a catchweight of 181 lb. Scott Coker, CEO of Strikeforce was interested in setting up the fight, but failed to do so as Zuffa took over Strikeforce.

Return to the UFC

On April 22, 2011, Miller signed a multi-fight agreement with the UFC.
Miller was expected to face Aaron Simpson on July 2, 2011 at UFC 132. However, on May 27, 2011, it was revealed that Miller would be one of the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter Season 14, opposite to Michael Bisping. Miller was replaced by Brad Tavares on the UFC 132 card.
Miller was defeated by Bisping on December 3, 2011 at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale. Round 1 was controlled by Miller with grappling, but Miller tired after that round, and was defeated via TKO at 3:34 of the third round.
Miller was then defeated by C. B. Dollaway on May 26, 2012 at UFC 146. After dropping Dollaway with a right hand, Miller appeared to injure his left knee. He was taken down for the rest of the fight and lost via unanimous decision. Miller had very publicly stated on his Twitter page that if he lost the fight, he would retire.
One day following the loss, Dana White ignored Miller's statement of retirement, instead opting to publicly fire Miller. White cited unspecified "backstage antics" on the part of Miller as a partial reason for the cut as well as Miller being a "clown" in his wardrobe choices before the fight. Miller later stated his side of the story, describing it as a brief confrontation with backstage official Burt Watson over Miller's attempt to wear a gasmask and colorful paper bag over his face for his walk-out.

MMA Hour incident

On October 8, 2012, Miller appeared on internet talk show, the MMA Hour. He was promoting an upcoming movie, Here Comes the Boom, and decided to give the interview "in character" as his character from the movie. "Patrick" became upset when Ariel Helwani pressured him to give the interview as Jason Miller. The fictional Patrick, stormed off of the set in a rage.

Return To MMA

On October 26, 2013 Miller announced on his official Twitter page that he would return to fighting. Venator FC announced on February 9, 2016 that Miller would face Luke Barnatt at Venator FC III for the promotion's Middleweight championship on May 21. After missing weight by 24 lb Miller was pulled from the fight and instead fought Mattia Schiavolin in a Light Heavyweight fight. Miller won the first round but gassed out in the second before being submitted by a rear naked choke.
Miller went on to say in an interview with Chael Sonnen that the loss to Schiavolin helped him to begin to turn his life around from the legal troubles and drug addiction that have plagued him since his retirement in 2012. He also went on to say that he felt a positive energy being back in the cage and would fight on, as a Light Heavyweight.

Legal issues & arrests

Miller was arrested on charges of domestic battery on August 11, 2013, and was released on bail the following day. The charges were later dropped.
On August 22, 2013, Miller was once again arrested for domestic battery. In court on August 26, the two charges were combined into one case with two felony counts of "corporal injury of spouse." Miller pleaded not guilty and his bail was reset at $100,000.
On October 9, 2013, Miller was taken into custody, and was booked in the early hours of October 10 for a misdemeanor contempt of court charge for violating a no-contact restraining order by sending a Snapchat message.
Miller was arrested on October 9, 2014, after a five-hour-long standoff with a SWAT team outside his Orange County, California home. Miller gave live updates over the five hours via Twitter.
On March 7, 2015, Miller was arrested outside of a bar in Laguna Beach, California, and was charged with simple misdemeanor battery and resisting arrest. Video footage showed Miller outside the bar, putting up a fight against officers.
On October 16, 2015, Miller was arrested again after allegedly assaulting police officers.
On July 11, 2016, Miller was arrested by Costa Mesa, California police for injuring a security guard and spitting on a police officer at the Saddle Ranch Chop House restaurant. No charges were filed.
In November 2017, Miller was convicted of felony domestic battery after pleading guilty. He was sentenced to serve three years' probation with a suspended four-year prison sentence, meaning a probation violation could see Miller face up to four years in a California state prison.
On October 23, 2018, Miller was again arrested in Orange County after allegedly smashing a large marble table at his girlfriend's La Habra, California home. He also allegedly smashed holes in the walls, broke down doors in the home, and derailed the home's garage door. He was arrested and held without bail in the Orange County jail. He faced a charge of felony vandalism to which he pleaded not guilty. The felony vandalism charge itself carried a maximum penalty of eight months in jail, but between this particular incident, prior convictions, and a probation violation, Miller faced up to 23 years in a California state prison.
On July 19, 2019, it was reported that Miller had accepted a plea deal in the felony vandalism case, and he was sentenced to serve one year in jail with time served being credited. He was released from jail in September 2019.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed Martial Art

Media

In the past, Miller appeared regularly on The Jason Ellis Show on Sirius XM Radio Faction XM 52 Sirius 41 on "Mayhem Mondays!!" as both a mixed martial arts expert and comedian, sharing amusing anecdotes and opinions. He returned to the Ellis Show for the first time since his incarceration on October 29, 2019.
Miller also appears briefly in several music videos of Jason Ellis's band TaintStick.
Miller also authors a monthly article for Fight! magazine with humorous articles on serious subjects.
He was the host of the MTV reality series Bully Beatdown in which he challenged bullies to a fight with other professional fighters, and if they accepted, they had the opportunity to win $10,000. If the bully lost, the person he picked on won the $10,000. In the first episode of the show's third season, Miller went on to take on the bully himself, making him lose all $10,000. Miller affectionately called his fans Mayhem Monkeys and himself the leader of the "monkey cult" and had a fan club of numbered monkeys.
Jason Miller appeared on G4's American Ninja Warrior, making it through the qualifying round with a time of 2:55.0. He was later eliminated in the second qualifying round.
He also appears in video games: Electronic Arts' EA Sports MMA and THQ's UFC Undisputed 3.
On July 20, 2010, November 30, 2010, and September 28, 2011, Jason Miller appeared on the podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience".
Miller also appears in Here Comes the Boom, in which he plays the role of "Lucky" Patrick Murray, an MMA fighter who goes in the ring against Kevin James's character, Scott Voss, in the film.