Has MTV Made Jason "Mayhem" Miller a Mainstream Draw?

by Kid Nate on Nov 2, 2009 9:46 PM EST in News Comment 28 comments

Dave Meltzer can't answer that question, but it's clear that Miller will be adding some spectacle to the broadcast:

Miller hopes to bring with him a fan base from his Thursday-night MTV show with an MMA theme that just ended its second season in late October. The show did about 800,000 viewers for the original prime-time showing, and with multiple repeats during the week, the overall viewership was significantly higher, mostly with teenagers and adults in their 20s, a key demographic CBS hopes MMA will bring to its network on Saturday.

MTV was auditioning prospective hosts two years ago for a show where MMA fighters would garner revenge by beating up bullies, when the producers were directed by YouTube videos of Miller. They were so impressed with what they saw that he was offered the job as host without even an audition.

But Miller remained a fighter, most recently in Japan for the Dream organization where he's actually better known for his heavily choreographed ring entrances than his fights. Like flamboyant Japanese fighters Genki Sudo and Akihiro Gono, Miller comes out putting on a show, looking like something more you would expect from a Broadway musical than a fight event, but that type of pageantry is popular on Japanese events.

Strikeforce is going to allow him to do his trademark entrance, a new version which he won't give away ahead of time. His entrances often involve dancing with people in monkey costumes, as Miller nicknames his fan base the "Mayhem monkeys."

Miller is one of those rare fighters who has managed to make himself a star independent of the UFC, where he's fought only once. While it's hard to argue that he would be at the top of the middleweight division in the UFC, I think a very strong case can be made that he is a higher caliber fighter than any number of UFC regulars. Chris Leben comes to mind.

Regardless, Miller is a fighter with a strong fan appeal and considerable skills and I'm glad to see him getting major exposure in the U.S.

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Strikeforce is going to allow him to do his trademark entrance, a new version which he won’t give away ahead of time

Best news of the week so far, other than those pics of Millen with Fedro in Russia.

by ufc4 on Nov 2, 2009 9:09 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

AGREED!

Can wait to see what he delivers… it’s bound to be awesome… after all, it’s Mayhem…

The Jon Jones of Mixed Martial Arts Journalism

by E. Spencer Kyte on Nov 2, 2009 9:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A reason King Mo signed with Strikeforce.
=)

by MMASuPreMaCy on Nov 2, 2009 11:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A very strong case can be made that he’s better than Chris Leben? Can’t see anyone arguing that, or even wanting to. Mayhem is a good fighter and fare more valuable to SF than he would be in the UFC’s middleweight division (fighting the likes of Leben or losing to the likes of Marquardt).

"I’m sorry. I didn’t drink last night, so I’m not funny today."
-Sakuraba

by Blackout612 on Nov 2, 2009 9:12 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Oh I can see Dana White

and his apologists saying that Mayhem isn’t UFC-caliber.

Follow me on Twitter @KidNate

by Kid Nate on Nov 2, 2009 9:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Mayhem is the exact caliber of fighter that is perfect for strikeforce. He’s good enough to be in teh UFC, but he can probably make more money outside of the UFC because he will have a difficult time getting to the top of the UFC MW ladder.

by Phildo on Nov 2, 2009 9:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

He would get dominated by the likes of Hendo, Marquardt, Vitor, etc., not to mention Anderson, but he’s good enough to be one of the top 5 or 10 non-UFC middleweights which makes him valuable.

by ufc4 on Nov 2, 2009 9:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly. The UFC has a lock on the top 4 (OK 3 if Hendo doesn’t resign) fighters at MW, and you could easily say Demian Maia has the fifth spot locked as well. Mayhem falls in that murky 6-20 category, which means in the UFC he goes .500. He beats a Kendall Grove, splits with fighters in his grouping, and then loses to the top 5. Outside the UFC he keeps winning until he runs into a Jacare.

by nottheface on Nov 2, 2009 9:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Really?

I think he’s friends with Dana. I’ve seen him on the Vlog’s palling around with him at events. I think there’s a bit of a mutual understanding between them, not unlike Robbie Lawler. I think some of the shit talking is just them jawing at each other, though I can’t be sure.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t drink last night, so I’m not funny today."
-Sakuraba

by Blackout612 on Nov 2, 2009 9:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Mayhem certainly is UFC caliber, but I don’t think a clear case can be made that he is higher caliber fighter than Leben. Mayhem has had the better results recently, but he also has the advantage of getting to face guys like Kala Hose & Shibata while Leben has been run through the UFC meatgrinder.

I think both guys are at about the same level. They both have a fairly old win against a current top 10 fighter (Mayhem versus Lawler, Leben versus Santiago) and they have both been mauled when they faced elite competition (Mayhem versus GSP, Leben versus Silva). Both guys are very good, but limited fighters with over the top personalities. They are more similar than different IMO.

by Steve4192 on Nov 2, 2009 10:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Chris Leban’s fights since Silva: Santiago, MacDonald, Starnes, Terry Martin, Sakara, Bisping, Rosholt.

Miller’s fights during that interim: Lodune Sincaid, Lawler, Trigg, Hector Urbina, Miura, Tim Kennedy, Shibata, Jacare, Kala Hose, Jacare.

I don’t think Leban’s had a particularly more difficult interval—certainly not a meatgrinder.

"Yeah we came up short today but I'm cool with things." -- Juan Pablo Montoya

by capital L on Nov 2, 2009 11:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good news for Shields when he takes over Bully Beatdown

by HighNoon on Nov 2, 2009 9:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

BTW Nate

Nice pic

by ufc4 on Nov 2, 2009 10:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

There are a lot of top fighters who aren’t in the UFC though Dana and friends do have the lion’s share of the talent. Personally, I’d rather see Shields or Nick Diaz in the UFC, at this point, than Miller. You can peruse the USA Today/SB Nation Consensus Rankings – the standard by which all other mixed martial arts rankings are judged – for evidence that there are a number of highly ranked fighters who aren’t employed by Zuffa. ;)

by Cannon Jacques on Nov 2, 2009 10:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Miller is the perfect example of a guy who gets hype because he used to fight in the UFC and now doesn’t. Would he beat Leben maybe or maybe he’d get his head knocked off either way he wouldn’t be a threat to any top MW and would be just another guy on the roster.

by Raker on Nov 2, 2009 10:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Miller’s hype come from every which way except from his inauspicious UFC bout.

"Yeah we came up short today but I'm cool with things." -- Juan Pablo Montoya

by capital L on Nov 2, 2009 10:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

exactly

by midwestbred on Nov 3, 2009 1:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

NICE

I think you MISSED the entire point of the article or comments.

by MMASuPreMaCy on Nov 2, 2009 11:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

miller might not beat leban?

did you see the cripplers last fight, they said his training was almost exclusivly something like playing 5 a side soccer in hawaii, miterone and junk gave a better display of technical skill than leban did

by bearcox13 on Nov 3, 2009 11:57 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I watched the show once, so did a lot of Americans and without knowing if they are marketing him, I’d say he gathers more casuals than Fedor to CBS

all you gotta do is...

by imapimp08 on Nov 2, 2009 11:14 PM EST via mobile reply actions 0 recs

I answer your question with another question…

Would Flavor Flav Vs. Brett Rogers attract more eyeballs than Fedor-Rogers?

I say yes, sir.

by casey manrique on Nov 3, 2009 12:28 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I answer your question with another question…

Would Flavor Flav Vs. Brett Rogers attract more eyeballs than Fedor-Rogers?

I say yes, sir.

What? That is so stupid that I’m stupid for even quoting it…

by midwestbred on Nov 3, 2009 1:47 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Oddly Enough...

It’s not really that stupid.

I mean, the idea of Flavor Flav fighting and main eventing against The Grim is stupid, but the meaning is very much valid. Everyone is already saying that KIMBO MF’ing SLICE is going to end up out drawing FEDOR… think on that for a minute…

A dude with ZERO ground game who used to fight in the streets and counts a shady stoppage over James “Alistair Overeem Just Owned Me” Thompson as his greatest win to date is going to be a bigger draw on FREE TELEVISION than perhaps the greatest MMA fighter of all-time…

Pretty sure that is what Casey was sarcastically implying…

The Jon Jones of Mixed Martial Arts Journalism

by E. Spencer Kyte on Nov 3, 2009 2:34 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thank you so much, ESK. My faith in sarcasm is restored.

by casey manrique on Nov 3, 2009 11:16 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Bottom line is any major media exposure is going to make you more of a draw. For example I will tune it to hopefully see him get smashed because I cannot stand his annoying persona. I dont care where he ranks in the division because I just think he is annoying as all hell and would like to see someone shut his mouth. Some people may tune in because they love him from his 5 minutes on mtv. Either way he is a draw love him or hate him and Im quite sure more american teenage pimple poppers know his name over Fedor.

by nsiegel on Nov 3, 2009 7:12 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

This is a non issue because so far Mayhem hasnt even been promoted by strikeforce, showtime or CBS.

They arent even promoting their main event let alone the undercard.

by mmalogic on Nov 3, 2009 8:26 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yea that sucks. Mayhem should of been booked on a couple of late night talk shows and they should of tried to get Mtv to do some cross promotional work for the event at the least. He is a real marketable guy with his own tv show and they just haven’t taken advantage of that at all.

by who me on Nov 3, 2009 10:14 AM EST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs