Jason “Mayhem” Miller has done a lot with his career in Mixed Martial Arts over the years, but most of his career has taken place outside of the Octagon, until now.
Mayhem earned his nickname for his antics in and outside of the cage. In his first fight in the UFC, he wore a mask as he entered the cage, and he attempted to flip off of his back straight onto his feet when he found a young Georges St-Pierre standing in his guard. It didn’t work, and Mayhem was kicked back to the mat, but he got up chuckling.
Since that unanimous decision loss at welterweight to St-Pierre in 2005, Miller has fought at middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight, winning a contest at each weight. Any fighter who can go on a two-fight win streak while struggling to find his fighting weight is a pretty talented one. Shortly after his fight against Lodune Sincaid at 205 pounds, Miller realized that 185 pounds was the place for him. He cemented his place in the ranks at 185 as he captured the Icon Sport Middleweight Championship from Robbie Lawler in 2006, just a year after his sole, lackluster performance in the UFC.
Miller has also built a strong fan base through the use of his “Mayhem” image. His fans, which he personally calls “Mayhem Monkeys,” have come to follow him through his fights, as well as his television and radio personality. Mayhem regularly hosts a radio show on Sirius XM, and hosted three seasons of MTV’s Bully Beatdown, before deciding to take his MMA career to the next level.The current coach of Team Miller on The Ultimate Fighter 14 lucked into his role on the show. Originally, top middleweight contender Chael Sonnen, was asked to be the coach, but due to several incidents relating back to his August 2010 clash with Anderson Silva he was unable to get his fighting license cleared. The title fight, where Sonnen tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, possibly indicating steroid usage, essentially set everything in motion for Miller to become the new coach. He tweeted UFC President Dana White several days later that he wanted the spot, and White named him coach in a matter of days.
The opposing coach, Michael Bisping, and Miller will square off on Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 14 finale, which is set to take place at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Miller comes into the fight as the favorite over the UFC veteran, Bisping. The fight could have title implications for either fighter down the line, as Bisping is currently riding a three-fight win streak, and Miller is on a two-fight streak.
Miller is known for his stellar ground game, as he owns 15 of his 25 wins by submission. Bisping has become known as a power puncher with 13 of his 21 victories by knockout. In the fighters’ combined 55 fights, only 14 have gone to a decision, so this is sure to be a barnburner. Miller’s maturation as a fighter and his willingness to take his career more seriously has brought him a lot of respect within the MMA community, but will it have an impact in his return to the UFC? The task of the night for Miller will be getting Bisping, to the mat. Bisping who has a career takedown defense of 58 percent, has fought a lot of pure strikers over his career, and the times in which he found himself matched up with a wrestler, he ended up on his back quite a bit.
Miller has openly stated that he will knock Bisping out and wishes to stand and trade with the Brit. If Mayhem opts to follow this game plan, he may find himself in a spot of trouble, but Bisping isn’t a world-class striker by any means. If Miller can pick his shots and go in for the big punches when the opportunity presents itself, he could easily find himself on top of Bisping, pummeling him to a TKO victory. I’m not sure that Miller has the power to take out Bisping, so watch for him to knock Bisping down, and go in for the rear naked choke. Miller takes this one is such a fashion, in the fourth round.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment