After another puzzling performance, it appears Jason (Mayhem) Miller has called it a career.
Coming off a unanimous decision loss to C.B. Dollaway at Saturday’s UFC 146 — a second straight lopsided defeat for the onetime top middleweight contender in his long-awaited return to the Octagon — Miller (23-9-1, 0-3 in the UFC) announced on The MMA Hour Monday afternoon that he was retiring after a career that spanned just over a decade.
The 31-year-old middleweight, known just as much for his dyed-red hair and wacky personality, has had plenty of success in multiple promotions, even in recent years, including a two-fight stint in Strikeforce in 2009-2010 in which he went the distance in a loss to Jake Shields for the organization’s vacant title and then scored a TKO win over Tim Stout.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt also submitted Kazushi Sakuraba with an arm-triangle choke at Dream 16 in Japan in September 2010, which helped lead to his shot in the Octagon since April 2005, when he lost to Montreal’s Georges St-Pierre at UFC 52.
His UFC debut against the Canadian, which was at 170 pounds and before St-Pierre became champion, came amidst a five-fight undefeated run in the Honolulu-based SuperBrawl promotion. But he is perhaps most remembered, at least in recent years, for his part in the “Strikeforce: Nashiville brawl,” an infamous post-fight melee in April 2010 on national TV after Shields defeated Dan Henderson, which was sparked when Miller, who had earlier defeated Stout, entered the cage to confront him looking for a rematch.
There were high hopes for Miller in his return to the UFC after seven years, as his charisma and character — and clearly he’s ability to stir the pot — led to him being made a coach of The Ultimate Fighter opposite the equally loudmouthed Michael Bisping. But in their battle at the end of the reality show’s run, Miller gassed out in the very first round and was dominated throughout the fight until he was finally knocked out by Bisping in the third.
Miller, who trains out of Reign Training Centre in California with the likes of UFC veterans Mark Munoz and Winnipeg’s Krzysztof Soszynski, promised to come back stronger and put on a much better performance in Saturday’s fight. Instead, he was up to his uncanny antics, at one point applying a nougie to the head of Dollaway as the two grappled against the cage. In the second round, he did manage to rock his opponent, against whom he figured to have the striking edge, but he was unable to follow through.
And for the second straight fight, it appeared his cardio betrayed him, and all the while he was unable to counteract Dollaway’s tremendous wrestling technique.
It was assumed after the near carbon copy of his previous bout — apart from the fact that Bisping managed to stop him in the third — that his time with the UFC would be over.
That was confirmed late Saturday, and according to MMAjunkie.com, something also happened backstage after the fight that officially led to his release.
“Mayhem is done (in the UFC),” said president Dana White.
On Monday, Miller extended that to his fight career as a whole. Asked if he might leave the door open for a return or change of heart, according to Bleacher Report, Miller said he might as well “slam it shut.”
