Issue 080

October 2011

The newest TUF coach Jason Miller looks ahead to bullying Michael Bisping, getting his shot at Anderson Silva and conquering the UFC’s middleweight division.

Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller is big, brash and ebullient… but it’s just on the surface. The American showman has emerged through dint of personality, as much as fighting pedigree, as a coach in the latest series of The Ultimate Fighter and onto the global stage within the UFC.

The trash and the flash, however exciting and refreshing, is all a front Miller admits in an exclusive, revelatory interview with Fighters Only. His on-screen persona is simply a character born through necessity in a sport where entertainment is as priceless a commodity as raw talent. 

Beneath the bravado and playing to the gallery with his ‘media character, is a fighter desperately in search of a narrative that takes him towards UFC middleweight title glory and global respect within mixed martial arts. That is the dream. And Miller believes he is living it.

Miller, uber-confident, is not known as Mayhem for nothing, and told Fighters Only he is intent on becoming the nemesis of the polarizing figure of Michael Bisping, when the opposing TUF coaches eventually go mano-a-mano in the Octagon on December 3rd in Las Vegas. He believes the British star has an ego that is out of control, and is eagerly awaiting their showdown at the end of the year, when the TUF series culminates in the finale in Las Vegas. The whole experience is also something that will live with Mayhem forever.

“TUF has probably been the best experience of my life, really. It’s an amazing thing. I feel like I’ve been working hard to help fighters with young careers and the whole experience is just amazing,” he says. “I know a lot of fighters have complained about it and I can see why… I am pretty much chained to the gym the whole time, like seven days a week.

“I have to be at the gym at least once a day, but usually I was there all day. It’s very exhaustive but my jobs aren’t really work because I enjoy them so much. They take over my whole life, but I can’t really complain about them because I love what I do.”

Miller admits the TUF journey has been a lesson in self-discovery. “I’ve found a new respect for my coach and manager Ryan Parsons because dealing with a bunch of athletes’ needs is an exhaustive thing. If I didn’t care about the guys it might be a lot easier but it’s very easy to get really stressed out because you’re not just worrying about yourself.

“When you’re a fighter you’re only worried about yourself, but when you’re a coach you’re worried about the welfare of all the guys.” 

While naturally tight-lipped about the season’s content, Miller reveals his opinion of opposing coach Bisping has changed dramatically during the course of filming… “I’ve definitely changed my perception of Michael Bisping. I didn’t really pay him any attention before, and I came into this thing with an open mind. Even though the majority of US fans really dislike Michael, I can totally understand why now. I’m ready to be his nemesis.”

Miller admits to having made a subtle forensic examination of Bisping during filming of TUF series 14. “Well, yeah, I have, but I’m observant in general anyway. But the thing about this is that it’s all surface stuff. I get to see who this guy is in this environment – and he’s not dealing with it nearly as well as I am.

“After December 3rd, I hope he comes away with a new perspective after I’ve shown him what hard work and checking your ego out the door does. I feel like he’s not in control of his own ego and he buys into his own hype. I’ve never had a problem keeping that away in my life as a fighter. No, actually that’s a lie, I have when I was younger, when I was about 23 and I first got popular in Hawaii, and I went on a tear. I thought I was the hottest… I thought I was rich… but that was when I was 23 years old! Now, in my 31st year, I realize there’s a lot of surface lies that don’t mean anything. The important stuff is beneath the surface.”

And where it counts is in the Octagon. Within the fighting arena, there is no question of Miller not respecting Bisping’s abilities. “My biggest fear when I was younger might have been underestimating Michael, because, as you know, he has a well-rounded skill set. I feel like we’re similar fighters because we both come in really good shape to fight, we both have a lot of heart in the cage and a lot of intensity but the difference is that I feel like I’m more well-rounded and technically proficient on the ground, on the feet, and I’m a stronger fighter.”

Miller’s training for the middleweight showdown, arguably a possible UFC title eliminator, will involve working with a “great group” at Kings MMA and Reign Training Center in Orange County, California. “I’ll be bringing in a few simulation guys that can mimic Michael’s style and focus on the gameplan. We’ve got Mark Munoz, who’s a fantastic 185lber, and I get to train with ‘Shogun’ Rua and Wanderlei Silva, and Fabricio Werdum at Kings MMA. I have a fantastic training camp so on December 3rd I’ll be more than ready to go.” 

As the host of Bully Beatdown on MTV – in which Miller challenges real-life bullies to fight against a professional mixed martial artist for a chance to win $10,000, and depending on their performance, either “bullied” or “bully” get the loot – will it not be seen as a double-standard in TUF when the American does what he is renowned for, goading and taunting Brit Bisping, whose emotions are never far from the surface?

“Well, yeah, I mean I’ll taunt him, but when you watch the series you’ll see who the real bully is. This guy’s a bully because once you stand up to him he backs down. He could never bully me; he picks on the smaller weaker guys.”

Miller also believes interest in TUF will be rejuvenated with the series. “I think TUF is a great opportunity for up-and-coming fighters to not only develop themselves as fighters but also build their brand. I think it’s one of the best moves the UFC has made to develop a reality show where you get to really know these guys. 

“What I’ve learned from my career – where I went about things the hard way – remember I wasn’t fighting in the UFC all these years, and didn’t have the benefit of the UFC marketing me, so I understand how important it is. If you get people interested in you, people want to know who you are, care who you are, and want to watch you fight.

“TUF is the perfect vehicle for that. Look what Kenny Florian and Josh Koscheck have done from being in TUF. Florian’s awesome and Koscheck really made a name for himself starting there, so it’s a great thing and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

The bigger picture is not just publicity, of course. Miller has his eyes on the ultimate prize: the UFC middleweight belt, currently held by Anderson Silva, most people’s number-one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. And he admits his immediate thought on getting the call-up for TUF was that it could lead to a shot at the Brazilian superstar. 

“Absolutely, absolutely,” he enthuses. “I feel like I haven’t fought the top-level competition and it wasn’t through my choice. I wanted to fight the top guys but they were in the UFC, and I was stuck in Strikeforce. The top guys aren’t there, and there were no fights for me, so I feel like a lot of people are underestimating me just on the fact I haven’t been fighting on the biggest stage. This is my opportunity to show everyone what I can do.

“Don’t get me wrong, Anderson Silva’s fantastic, but he’s a human being. He bleeds the same blood that we do, so he can be beaten for sure. He definitely can be beaten and I hope to get my chance soon to get in front of him and show that he can be beaten.”

Miller believes a convincing performance against Bisping will put him “in the mix.” He explained: “I feel like the hype alone -– after I beat Michael up – I feel like the hype alone can carry me into that Octagon with Anderson. I feel like it would be a great thing for everyone involved.

“And when I do get that shot I will be ready. When Travis Lutter kept taking him down easily I was like, ‘Wow, hey everybody, this guy’s not invincible’. And look at Chael Sonnen’s fight against Silva. Of course, I think the place to beat Anderson is on the ground, but it’s definitely easier said than done if he’s swinging and punching and kicking at you.”

Born on December 24, 1980, Jason Nicholas Miller had a tough childhood. Growing up in the predominantly black neighborhoods of Atlanta, Georgia, he was frequently bullied as a child. 

“I grew up in government housing, all the poor kids lumped together in tight quarters. It’s a weird reverse racism deal where if you’re the only white kid in the neighborhood you’re gonna get picked on. Because kids aren’t very developed socially, it’s easy to single out the different guy. So I had that. I realized once you had a reputation for standing up for yourself you didn’t get picked on quite as much.

“My personality didn’t allow me to just be quiet and be by myself, my entire family just yells and talks and screams really loud. You’d hate being at a Thanksgiving table with us, everyone’s just so aggressive.

“My family is the type that doesn’t have a filter. Everybody just says what they think immediately and it’s really made me into the person I am today. Maybe that’s a genetic factor or my upbringing but I just speak directly from the heart and say what’s on my mind. There’s no lie. For me, it’s easier to just say how you feel and get it out there and let’s have a fight about it than tow it round. I was embarrassed about it when I was younger.”

His father, Mike, was a paratrooper, and his mother, Kim, was in the army, later becoming a nurse. They met when they were both serving in the US forces in Germany. “One parent would be working through to the nightshift and sometimes both worked the nightshifts so they’d be sleeping while we were at school. So it was a classic blue-collar story in America. I feel like a lot of kids were like that with families trying to make it out of government housing and make it where they could provide a better home life.”

With a moniker like ‘Mayhem’ it’s easy to assume that Miller was something of a spirited child. “I was definitely that kid that got kicked out of class all the time.” The nickname fit from an early age then? “Oh yeah, definitely that’s where it started,” he admits, although it was actually fellow fighter Phil Baroni who coined the Mayhem phrase some years later.

“I hated school, sitting still. I just wanted to live in a gym and become self-educated, and devote time and energy to reading books on things that really mattered to me rather than jumping through the hoops of high school.

“I’ve always been into psychology. I thought it was interesting the way the human mind works and develops and also how mass psychology affects people, like marketing, and how companies get consumers to buy their products. I was really interested in that. I’m also really interested in science like how we as human beings have developed ways to tell how far the sun is away from the earth. 

“I just read A Short History of Nearly Everything which blew my mind – how humans have evolved from poking around with sticks and killing animals to where we’re at now, when everyone has specialized skills and we’ve developed vaccines. It’s unbelievable how far humankind has come in such a short span of time to the point that we’re going to have computers in our brains eventually to help us understand even bigger things. That to me is really interesting.”

It’s been six long years, and thousands of air miles, since his last stint in what is now the world’s leading mixed martial arts arena, and Miller is relishing the opportunity to once again step inside the UFC Octagon. “I feel like I’ve come back home,” he says with a smile, “I’ve always been an ultimate fighter so now I have the official name.”

And so, finally, can we romanticize about something very special from last year’s Fighters Only World MMA Awards’ ‘Most Memorable Ring Entrance’ winner come fight night in December? “Most definitely. I’ve already started thinking about it, but I’m certainly not giving to give anything away just yet!

“I’m an entertainer all the way around, just one of my avenues for entertainment is fighting. Man, I really have fun when I’m showing out, when I’m doing something creative and really expressing myself in every way I can. Suddenly here I am with a lot of ring walks that stick in people’s brains. 

“I do mixed martial arts, I craft these ring walks and it’s all performance art; fighting is performance art. Fighting is like improvisational dance, it’s the same thing, you’re dancing but with a violent end to it.” The performance that really matters, and could change his life, will be in his next fight. Perhaps the Mayhem Miller legacy even rests on

the outcome.

The making of 'Mayhem'

Theft, arrest… and family boot camp!

“The turning point came for me when I was 15 and I was arrested for stealing plywood – which we were going to use to make a skateboard ramp. I was the ringleader of this little bunch of miscreants. We were caught red-handed by the police at the yard. It went off without a hitch until the driver, a real pot-smoking kid named John, turned on the car lights, straight on a police officer. My dad was pretty fired up when he found out. He was angry because I was being a scumbag and he didn’t raise me like that – to steal something that wasn’t mine.

“After I was caught, he put me in what he called ‘Miller Boot Camp.’ He just treated me like you would treat guys training to be in the army. He would wake me up real early and make me run, and then stand to attention in the back yard. Some of it was mental training, too. He made me read these books and one self-help book really laid out a way to develop yourself and how to go about getting your life goals organized. One of the things you had to do was to write out what you were good at: for me, it was making people laugh, and fighting. I was good at fighting the other kids. I’d just seen the UFC for the first time and it was in the back of my head that I could do that as a career. But it was just a pipe dream at the time.”

Living in a van for eight months to train

“10 years ago, MMA was really a fringe sport and so the toughest thing was making ends meet. I lived in my van, a Ford 350, for eight months outside of the Beach Ultimate Training Center [in Huntington, CA.] I had a huge stereo in there, it was like a rolling nightclub. It had a disco ball, amps and speakers in the back. I think I paid $2k for the car – which was about $1.5k too much. One time, I told a girl she could come over if she brought me milk, bread and baloney. I ate out of tin cans. It wasn’t an easy life.

“My dad told me I was an idiot and to go to computer school. I told him to get outta’ here; I love ‘Ultimate Fighting.’ I didn’t talk to him for a while, except to ask for a hundred bucks to get me outta jail. It was a rough period, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. We all go through difficult periods but when we are comfortable, sometimes we can look back and see what we learned. I learned so many things in that time. I’ve got to say they were some of the happiest times of my life. I didn’t care, I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever. I don’t owe anybody anything so I can just work out,’ and I was fine. At the time I only had one [responsibility] to myself and to my training: to get to where I am today.”

'Mayhem' Q&A

What is your earliest memory of watching a massive sporting event?

“I remember crowding around a small TV at one of my dad’s army buddy’s houses to watch Mike Tyson knock the hell out of someone and I can remember thinking Mike Tyson was like, super-powered. That was during the same era that WWE/WWF was around with Hulk Hogan. Actually, if you check out my blog at mayhemmiller.com there’s a good memory of me meeting Hulk Hogan when I was 10 years old. That’s one of the youngest memories I have.”

Outside of MMA what sports do you watch now?

“I really got into basketball this season and, you know, those guys are amazing athletes. To be that huge and that coordinated is really amazing. I got into it ‘cos I was in Boston during the NBA play-offs filming a movie in which I had green hair, so I really represented the Celtics at the time and got caught up in that fever.”

What is the most memorable moment from your career so far?

“Probably beating Kazushi Sakuraba [submission victory in the first round last September at Dream 16 in Japan], although he was a legend in the sport. I really looked up to that guy.”

And the worst moment in your career?

“I beat a guy named Shawn Taylor in Hawaii and choked him out, but he wouldn’t tap and he went to sleep. He was such a tough dude and wouldn’t quit and I beat the guy good. Maybe it was coincidence but the guy had a drug problem after that… later, he killed himself. It was about a year after that he hung himself from a bridge. They were replaying that fight on local TV and I took a lot of guilt from that, I know he had problems, drug problems, mental problems but I couldn’t understand how a guy who was so tough and fought so hard and wouldn’t quit against me, could quit on life like that. It stuck in my brain and I’d just won a title fight. It got me really down too. I couldn’t believe it and it sent me on a downward spiral for a while in my life.”

You’re known as a joker and entertainer but is there a serious side to Jason Miller?

“Absolutely. You have to have a serious side. I don’t view myself as a smart guy, but I’m smart enough to know that I’m not that smart. The more you see the less you know.”

Does that mean you keep learning?

“Mike, my damn dad, used to ask me once a day, ‘What did you learn today?’ and if I didn’t have anything he’d make me go learn something. I used to hate it, but now I appreciate it and I go off sometimes and research something. It’s a good thing to pass on to your kids.”

Are your siblings involved in sports?

“I’ve got a little sister, Megan, but she’s not little. She was the top-ranked player in her roller derby league at one time and now she runs a kickboxing gym, which is funny because for years she looked at me like I was crazy for doing MMA. It bodes well for my family because my dad boxed and everyone is pretty aggressive and we need an outlet for that aggression. So hitting a bag or sparring is right up their alley.”

Is there one piece of advice that’s stayed with you in your MMA career, that you use as a mantra?

“When I was 17 or 18 years old I’d spar with a boxer, a big, black guy with gold teeth called Bubu and one time I was in the gym and I could tell he was so stressed. He gave me one piece of advice that was well put, but I didn’t really follow enough when I was younger. It was, “Stay away from bitches.” At the time, I was like, ‘What Bubu? But I like girls,’ and he was insistent. ‘Man, just trust me, stay away from bitches,’ he said. As I got older I found out that almost every story there is that ends with trouble began with a woman. So I kind of got what he meant.”

If you could go back in time to watch any sporting event in history what would it be and why?

“Come on, that’s an easy one. Why wouldn’t I want to sit next to Caesar and watch gladiators fight off freaking lions? I’d actually like to go back and watch pankration matches. To know there was an era of guys throwing rocks and punching each other, it’s amazing, it’s barbaric but that was a long time ago so of course it’s barbaric, but it was advanced at the time.”