‘Mayhem’ Miller’s Nonstop Hustle
Lutfi Sariahmed Nov 3, 2009
MMA's master of mayhem, Jason Miller
is probably better known in the United States for his work on MTV’s
“Bully Beatdown” than for his work in the cage.
On Saturday, though, he’ll look to show off his fighting skills on CBS when he takes on Jake Shields in a middleweight title fight at Strikeforce/M-1 Global “Fedor vs. Rogers.”
“The fact that my grandfather can switch the thing on as long as
he's got the stupid high-def converter box on his TV … that's
awesome,” said Miller on the Sherdog Radio Network's
“Beatdown” on Friday. “I mean, that's huge. That's really big.
I know I don't have my gold teeth anymore or a giant beard, but I
hope to draw at least some of the viewers.”
Miller already attracts his own audience. Between his Web site, Twitter and MySpace accounts, TV work, radio appearances and writing, he has all major forms of media covered. Then there's that fighting thing.
But Mayhem the Entertainer is no different than Jason Miller.
“It's all me,” Miller said. “I just make sure I put it out there for you. At the very least, you have to respect that about me. I don't care if you don't get my jokes. You don't have to be my fan. Go root for Jake Shields. If you want to be boring, go ahead. But at the same time, I'm very honored that anybody listens to me or anyone pays attention or anyone cares when I fight.”
As is the case with most successful fighters these days, questions inevitably lead to when Miller could resurface in the UFC. He actually finds Strikeforce more appealing, though.
“If I'm the UFC welterweight champion, I've typecast myself into one spot,” Miller said. “I know I have more talents than just my fighting. If I'm owned by the UFC, I'm owned by them. It's not a bad thing. It's just business. They're not stupid. They don't want their fighters going outside their control. With Strikeforce, they're a great organization, but they're going to understand that they're going to benefit more from me being on MTV, from me writing articles for Fight Magazine. Me doing stuff outside the fight realm only helps them and helps their brand.”
And it helps Mayhem get his name out there as more than just a fighter.
“Every other fighter in the world it seems like has this sense of, ‘OK, I got to go. I got to be in the UFC, and that's going to be where I make my money.' Well, dude, except for (Georges) St. Pierre, (Chuck) Liddell, (Randy) Couture and (Tito) Ortiz, nobody else is making big money. I just always knew that the way I was going to make my money was in the mainstream, and where I was going to make my money and be successful was by building this brand and be me on a big scale. Be a fighter. Be a personality, and I'm really still, every day, trying to do that. It's a nonstop hustle.”
Once he steps into the cage on Saturday, however, the man of many hats has only one goal in mind.
“I don't need to write a storyline for this,” Miller said. “To me, my hand raised at the end, that's good enough. I just want to show everybody, always bet on Mayhem.”
More Mayhem » His Thoughts on Shields, Hating People, Instant Rage & Fedor vs. Rogers
On Saturday, though, he’ll look to show off his fighting skills on CBS when he takes on Jake Shields in a middleweight title fight at Strikeforce/M-1 Global “Fedor vs. Rogers.”
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Miller already attracts his own audience. Between his Web site, Twitter and MySpace accounts, TV work, radio appearances and writing, he has all major forms of media covered. Then there's that fighting thing.
“I look at myself as an entertainer,” Miller said. “I enjoy
entertaining the masses, and one of the ways I do that is by
kicking, punching and choking somebody. It's just a matter of doing
the prefight, the fight and the postfight. That's what I'm
into.”
But Mayhem the Entertainer is no different than Jason Miller.
“It's all me,” Miller said. “I just make sure I put it out there for you. At the very least, you have to respect that about me. I don't care if you don't get my jokes. You don't have to be my fan. Go root for Jake Shields. If you want to be boring, go ahead. But at the same time, I'm very honored that anybody listens to me or anyone pays attention or anyone cares when I fight.”
As is the case with most successful fighters these days, questions inevitably lead to when Miller could resurface in the UFC. He actually finds Strikeforce more appealing, though.
“If I'm the UFC welterweight champion, I've typecast myself into one spot,” Miller said. “I know I have more talents than just my fighting. If I'm owned by the UFC, I'm owned by them. It's not a bad thing. It's just business. They're not stupid. They don't want their fighters going outside their control. With Strikeforce, they're a great organization, but they're going to understand that they're going to benefit more from me being on MTV, from me writing articles for Fight Magazine. Me doing stuff outside the fight realm only helps them and helps their brand.”
And it helps Mayhem get his name out there as more than just a fighter.
“Every other fighter in the world it seems like has this sense of, ‘OK, I got to go. I got to be in the UFC, and that's going to be where I make my money.' Well, dude, except for (Georges) St. Pierre, (Chuck) Liddell, (Randy) Couture and (Tito) Ortiz, nobody else is making big money. I just always knew that the way I was going to make my money was in the mainstream, and where I was going to make my money and be successful was by building this brand and be me on a big scale. Be a fighter. Be a personality, and I'm really still, every day, trying to do that. It's a nonstop hustle.”
Once he steps into the cage on Saturday, however, the man of many hats has only one goal in mind.
“I don't need to write a storyline for this,” Miller said. “To me, my hand raised at the end, that's good enough. I just want to show everybody, always bet on Mayhem.”
More Mayhem » His Thoughts on Shields, Hating People, Instant Rage & Fedor vs. Rogers
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