Mayhem Miller is ambiguous.
By that, I don’t mean… y’know…is he, isn’t he…as in, I’m not suggesting that it’s hard to tell if the guy is a shirtlifter or not. I’m sure he isn’t, and besides that sort of thing isn’t particularly newsworthy these days, the homosexual community can even marry in certain western countries and the media insists that there is nothing wrong with it. No, he is an ambiguous figure because he is polarising; it is hard to define him. Is he a goofy clown; messing around, playing up for the cameras, starring in his own MTV show, Bully Beatdown, in which he slaps around random folk who get paid to take beatings for their bullying ways? Or, is he merely a true Japanophile, bringing the puro resu spirit into the mainstream of Mixed Martial Arts, using his eccentric personality to draw fans, to hype fights, and to create both a persona, and public interest?
Jason Miller was a welterweight who did two things that affected the course of his career; went to middleweight, and left the UFC after one fight. Who knows what may have happened otherwise; he could have blitzed through every other welterweight other than the one who beat him – current champ GSP – or he may well have floundered. But in returning to his nomadic wanderings between lesser orgs, the new kid on the middleweight block posted an 8-1 win/loss streak following the 2005 GSP fight, right up to making his JMMA debut in slowly wearing down and then destroying pro-wrestler Katsuyori Shibata at Dream 3. In the meantime, his colourful personality landed him his famous (or infamous) MTV gig, and he launched himself up the middleweight ranks to sit pretty in the top 15 – at the least.
But some simply do not care – as shown in the recent “tirade” he launched against a friend of Nick Diaz, that polarised opinion. Despite the very real rivalry between both men, some simply scoff and claim that the act was nothing more than Mayhem “being an attention whore”. They insist that the outspoken eccentric “disrespected his own black belt ceremony”. And – as seen on every message board – the ‘C’ word…. clown.
After the Shibata win, the train was derailed somewhat with a loss to Jacare. One win later, he was facing Jacare in a rematch, with the vacant Dream Middleweight title on the line. Under Pride rules, Miller would have been crowned champ, but the soccer…. no, football kick he used to cut upon Souza’s forehead with had been illegalised in FEG’s Dream, so the bout would be ruled No Contest. His next fight would be another title fight – this time in USA based Strikeforce – and again, controversy occurred.
His entrance saw him pose in a “godlike” way, prior to Lava Lava booming out of the speakers, and Miller prancing down the aisle trying his best to dance amongst the ring girls. The fight saw him Lay’n'Prayed by Jake Shields. But Miller was ungracious afterwards, telling his foe via twitter that he’d given him staph infection. The entrance sparked discontent on some forums, but what followed would make national news in America.
Shields next defeated former 2 division Pride champion Dan Henderson, in what would be Shields’ final fight in Strikeforce before defecting to the UFC. After the fights conclusion, Miller interrupted the departing champions’ post-fight speech to ask “Where’s my rematch buddy?”
What followed that was the Cesar Gracie camp attacking Miller. Notable in their obvious punches thrown at Miller in the fracas were the Diaz brothers, Nick and Nate. And Nick also happened to be Strikeforce champion, in a weight class that Miller has fought at no less. Dollar signs flashed in front of eyes.
Diaz and Miller have since then engaged in a remarkable public spat. Now, this isn’t the first Tito/Ken we’ve had, and will be far from the last – but what sets this apart is that it involves a guy who is popular in Japan (where he fits in) and a star in America…. yet HE is being largely cast as the bad guy, against a surly, monosyllabic pot smoking bad boy.
What exactly is it about Mayhem Miller that so offends the sissy, cowardly, “beta male” snivelling runts in their THOUSANDS that causes such drivel to be posted about him, across tens of MMA forums and message boards?
“Attention whore”…. “clown”…. “goof”…. “irrelevant”….. “liar”…. does it end?
Here is my personal take on it. From here on in, this will be Fletch Blog territory i.e. unflinching, biased and at times non-journalistic opinionated content.
Mayhem is good for the sport. Those saying he is “irrelevant” – when has he been utterly outclassed or embarrassed? Please, don’t bother mentioning Shields, unless the now-welterweight possesses grip strength that would make Ubereem feel like a twelve year old fat girl, i.e. the ability to kill Mayhem anaconda style.
The fact is, recent Mayhem has won some, and lost two. But he’s far from “irrelevant”.
Now lets look at “clown”. Yeah, he’s a clown eh? And you’re a humourless bastard. Chill the fook out, and appreciate the fact that MMA has some colourful characters. We don’t want uniformity in our sport – we want excitement, talking points, drama and madness. So why hate on the “Mayhem” that Jason Miller can potentially – and occasionally – bring us? He’s good for the sport.
“Bully”. I don’t see him “picking on” Nick Diaz as particularly bullying.
*Fact 1: there is definite money to be made from the fight.
*Fact 2: Diaz fought former Light Heavyweight cum middleweight Frank Shamrock at 179lbs, why not meet Mayhem at that weight?
*Fact 3: Mayhem is not some nobody, like the Gracie camp is claiming. The man has been a title challenger in both Strikeforce and Dream.
Now, I love the way Nick Diaz fights, and I want to see this match. But I’m honestly puzzled by the horrendously bad media that Mayhem seems to get. It’s not unanimous, but the man has his share of detractors. Yet to me, he’s the very embodiment of all I love about Japanese MMA. Like me, Mayhem is a self-confessed Japanophile. Like me, he dances in a ridiculous and unembarrassed way. And he brings colour to JMMA – one only has to youtube his entrances at Dream 9 and Dream 16 to see that this man brings the enthusiasm and wackyness that Japan so embraces in its athletes and entertainment.
Give it a rest with your whining. If MMA was filled with boring, humourless fools, it wouldn’t be the sport we know and (supposedly) love.
I may not agree with everything that comes out of Jason Miller’s cakehole, but I’m usually entertained by it. And when I’m not, I have the bloody emotional maturity to not log onto an internet forum to whiiiiinnnneeee about it. Give up, you’re the real clowns!
Shit, the only thing that Jason Miller has ever done that deeply offended me was when he smashed Kazushi Sakuraba’s face in… or at least the shell of Saku. And even Jason knew that it had been his privilege to be in the ring with a true fightsports legend like the Gracie Hunter.
War Mayhem “Meeellohhhhhhhh” (Japanese announcer).
It’s been emotional.
Fletch
great article man! Totally agree with u...
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