13 Questions for Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller

Jack EncarnacaoApr 16, 2009
James Meinhardt/Sherdog.com

"Mayhem" is a natural for TV.
Sherdog: When it comes to that show, the way it works is that producers put out feelers looking for bullies, right, not for victims?
Miller: They did both. But I think the best ones were when the victims brought us the bully. The best episodes are when it came that way. But if the victim brought us the bully, a lot of times the bully is more unresponsive to the whole thing. I’ve kind of got to goad the guy into it. But if the bully came forward [looking to be cast], he’s pretty quick to say, “Yeah, I’ll do it.” Like immediately. It’s funnier if the guy is like, “I don’t … what? I don’t want to.” And I’m like, “Yo, 10Gs. Come on.”

Sherdog: But it seems that all of the bullies act surprised to see you, even if they applied to be on the show.
Miller: They know I’m coming, but they don’t know when or whatever. So I sneak up on them.

Sherdog: So when you crashed into that one bully’s house and jumped on his couch, he didn’t expect that?
Miller: No. He didn’t understand that someone was going to roll up in his house. His buddy answered the door, and it was game on. He doesn’t know who I am. Not everybody watches Sherdog.com all the god damned time. Nobody knows me. They’re just like, “Who’s this asshole on my couch?”

Sherdog: Do you get noticed a lot more in public because of the show?
Miller: It’s like pandemonium now, I’m not even kidding. Everyone in that age range knows who I am, 14 to 25 I guess. If I’m not wearing a beanie to cover up my ears and my hair, every kid stops and points at me. It’s really crazy. It’s not like being “Ultimate Fighter” famous. It’s like being normal famous. Even if they don’t know who I am, their friend knows who I am, and they slap him and go, “That’s the guy from Bully Beatdown.” I get people screaming, “Bully Beatdown!” and I get it nonstop.

Sherdog: Do you like that?
Miller: Not really. It’s getting into being annoying. It’s cooler when I’m in a room full of girls. I don’t mind. I knew what I was signing up to. I didn’t realize it would be this crazy. But, at the same time, it’s cool too because I’m just training for fights so I’m just kind of hiding in my house all the time. I’m not getting it as bad as I would if I was out partying every night. I was training during filming, too, but only one time a day. Then when I was finished at the end of February, I went back to training two times a day and training real hard.

Sherdog: Was there one bully who actually knew MMA?
Miller: Yeah, I think so. Watch the episode coming up. It’s pretty amazing. You’ll see. I’m not going to ruin it for the people who watch. But the next one, it’s next level. It changes the series. I’m just going to tell you right now, just watch.

Sherdog: What’s it going to be like to return to fighting in Hawaii, where you had several of the formative fights of your career?
Miller: It’s great. People in Hawaii have adopted me. And then the whole thing about this fight is that fact that I feel like people are disrespecting me, saying I’m Hollywood, I’m not coming back to Hawaii and I forgot about Hawaii. Dude, I love Hawaii. To me, Hawaii is such an important place in my life. I’m angry that people are saying that I don’t care about it.

People are just, like, saying I’m disrespecting Hawaii. Hawaii people are insane sometimes. It’s kind of like when you had a band when you’re a kid that you love and you knew the band first, and then they get famous and go just triple platinum or whatever and they “sold out.” That’s what people are acting like to me. I’m like man, screw you guys. Dude, I’ve got to go get paid. I’ve got to go make some money. Because I can’t do this forever.