Mayhem Miller and the UFC? I never want to see those two again. Props: MMAFighting.com

While it remains to be seen whether Jason “Mayhem” Miller will actually retire after his loss to C.B. Dollaway during last night’s UFC 146, he certainly won’t be having another fight in the UFC any time soon.

During last night’s post-event press conference, Dana White announced that the UFC has parted ways with Mayhem. While the news isn’t exactly surprising in any way, it’s interesting that Dana White cites “some crazy shit” that took place backstage as the reason for Miller’s release. Before you begin to speculate, the incident was not a fight. As of right now, there are no other details on the incident.

I was about to write that Jason Miller’s UFC run has been forgettable, but honestly, it was much worse than that: His career in the UFC has been memorable for entirely the wrong reasons. He’s been little more than a class clown, insulting opponents during interviews and wearing ridiculous outfits only to get thoroughly dismantled in each of his appearances. He’s looked so bad throughout his UFC career that Dana White is on record claiming that he’s seen women in Tae Bo classes with better striking.

(Cyrus Fees: The Genki Sudo of MMA announcers. / Props: MMAInsidetheCageTV. R.I.P. Adam Yauch)

- UFCs Dana White Talks Jon Jones DWI Meeting, Draws Comparisons With ‘Professional’ Anderson Silva (MMA Mania)

- Roy Nelson: If Brock Lesnar Deserves to Be in the Hall of Fame, So Do I (MMAFighting)

- Bleacher Report Hangs Out With Stefan Struve (BleacherReport/MMA)

- Mayhem Miller Wants to Show You How Hard He Prepared for CB Dollaway at UFC 146 (MiddleEasy)

- Junior Dos Santos: “When My Fists Talk For Me, Everybody Understands” (MMA: Inside The Cage)

- Ben Fowlkes and Chad Dundas Have a New Podcast (The Co-Main Event)

- Dana White Talks Retirement After UFC-FOX Deal Finishes (Fightline)

- Build the Upper Body of an MMA Champ (MensFitness)

- 5 Cliches That Stand Up Comedians Need to Retire (HolyTaco)

- Speakeasy, Episode 2: Paul F. Tompkins Interviews Weird Al (MadeMan)

- Wes Anderson’s 10 Awesomest Characters (ScreenJunkies)

- Sony Greenlights ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ Movie (GameFront)

(A class act since the day he was born, Dolloway always takes time out of his day to pose for photos with his adoring fans.) 

When I first came across this tidbit of hilarity that Jason Miller told UFC.com during a recent interview, I considering starting this article with some hackneyed statement like “You gotta love Jason Miller,” or “Leave it to Mayhem to-insert stupid sentence here.” But then I paused for a moment, and decided to rewatch his match with Michael Bisping at the TUF 14 Finale. When it was airing live, I happened to be in staying in Boston at a friend’s house, and missed the fight due to an intensely heated game of beer pong that followed an Animals as Leaders concert we had just attended.

After the game had finished, I quickly shuffled into the living room, wide eyed and silently praying to be greeted by the image of Bisping’s unconscious, purple face. But I was too late. The broadcast had ended. I turned to another buddy of mine, and like a coma patient (or a victim of an H-bomb) being awoken for the first time, I found myself asking, “What happened?” He looked up at me, bitter disappointment in his eyes, and said, “I’m not really sure, but it was really sad. Like watching a rabbit die in slow motion.”

The point is, after talking up such a storm and subsequently getting his ass taken to the cleaners by “The Count,” Miller has more than likely earned the ire of at least a few dozen of you. Kind of like that poor Danga bastard. And once again, it’s do or die time for Mayhem, and here he is, falling back on his old habits. I’m not trying to sound negative, because I think the guy is a pretty entertaining fellow. I just wonder if he’s going to regret saying things like this again:

I just look at who he’s fought in the past, and I look at — you know — I look at who he’s fought in the past, and how I match up with them, and I know that… this should be an easy night for me. On top of that, I trained my ass off. I’m not gonna make this a personal thing with the guy, but at the same time, I’m not gonna pretend to respect him.

There’s a stark contrast between me and him. You can see that I’m mentally tough, and I’m a bit of a masochist, so I’ll take the abuse, and go through it. When the going gets tough, this guy quits, and I’m gonna make him quit. I’m going to knock his fart-face off, and I’m going to send him packing. There’s no way around it.

Ah fuck it, I’m back on the bandwagon.

(Pictured from left to right: Jason Miller’s mother, Chael Sonnen, and Jason Miller’s girlfriend.) 

There is no truly no place on the Internet more hate stricken than that of the Twittersphere, other than Sputnikmusic or well…here, of course. I’ll be honest, I’ve had a Twitter account for a few months now and I’m still not truly sure as to what its purpose on this world is. Do I care if Kourtney Kardashian is currently releasing the contents of her latest trip to Moe’s in the second floor bathroom of a Versace outlet? Not really, but apparently there are nearly six million people on this planet that need to be made aware of this disturbing fact, right down to how many pieces of corn managed to find their way into the bowl. But I digress.

Perhaps the most ironic aspect of Twitter, at least in my mind, is its ability to make celebrities willingly trade away the last bit of privacy they so desperately ask for when bombarded by the media. In less than 150 characters, these public figures can run their names into the ground, yet even the UFC encourages it, handing out monetary awards for “creativity” and “growth percentage” for this “social” media network. Where, in times past, people wrote down their thoughts in journals, diaries, or simply let a thought go, nowadays everyone from Miguel Torres to King Mo have significantly screwed themselves by using this device as a platform to express their innermost feelings for the world to see, somehow unaware that it would bite them in the ass almost immediately. Such is the case for Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

Always the funnyman, Miller took to his Twitter yesterday and jotted down quite a zinger in light of Chael Sonnen’s recent Twitter remarks concerning Alistair Overeem:

@mayhemmiller
Chael berating someone on their test level is like me making fun of someone’s bad haircut.

Check out Sonnen’s end all response after the jump. 

(“Did I at least win the grappling round?“)

Could Jason Miller‘s 10-plus-year fighting career come to an end on May 26th? Mayhem appeared on last night’s episode of Spike TV’s “MMA Uncensored Live,” and raised the stakes for his UFC 146 battle with CB Dollaway:

“I’m on my own chopping block. If I lose to him, I’m quitting! I don’t even deserve to be in there! There’s not an easy fight. In the UFC, there’s no easy fight. He doesn’t deserve to be in there with me, and I’ll prove it. I’ll prove it in under a round, because, we see…I tend to get tired in the second round. [laughs] We’re both in a similar spot in our career I guess. We’re both on the chopping block. That’s fine. I’m really happy with that.”

(Don’t forget: Submissions for our Urijah Faber t-shirt design contest with Punch Buddies must be sent to contest@cagepotato.com by the end of today. Good luck! / California Kid action figure via Ben S.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- TUF 15: Number One Pick Justin Lawrence Looks to Back Up the Hype Against Cristiano Marcello (MMA Mania)

- Inside Dominick Cruz’s Training Camp for UFC 148 Fight With Urijah Faber (Video) (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

- Dan Hardy Wants To Fight ‘That Blood Thirsty Kill Freak’ Matt Hughes (MMA Convert)

- Remember the Guy Who Got Choked Out by a Girl? Tosh.0 Is Giving Him a Shot at Redemption (MiddleEasy)

- Jon Jones On Rashad Evans Having His Number: ‘He Doesn’t Even Have My Area Code’ (FightLine)

- Bryan Caraway Wouldn’t Be First Guy Ronda Rousey Has Beaten Up (Video) (5th Round)

- Jose Aldo Says He Will Move to 155 Pounds If Frankie Edgar Doesn’t Drop Down (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Josh Barnett Feels TRT Exemptions Don’t Make Sense (The Fight Nerd)

- Cameras Follow “Mayhem” Miller for Morgan Spurlock Documentary (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Hitman-TapouT Lawsuit Heating Up (MMA Payout)

- Mike Kogan Has Had Enough of Rampage’s UFC Complaints (Fight Opinion)

By Anton Gurevich

One of the fighters testing his skills at UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Overeem will be Jason “Mayhem” Miller, fighting the Octagon veteran C.B. Dollaway. Miller is undoubtedly one of the most colorful characters in MMA, entertaining audiences as the host of MTV’s Bully Beatdown, and as a coach on TUF 14. In his last fight, Miller was TKO’d by Michael “The Count” Bisping at the TUF 14 Finale, drawing fire from UFC President Dana White, who harshly criticized Miller for his performance. This time, Mayhem will look to prove his critics wrong.

LowKick.com photographer Scott Hirano was at Mark Munoz’s REIGN Training Center in Orange County, California, to deliver the following photo-report of Mayhem Miller’s preparations for Dollaway. Please make sure to follow Scott on Twitter @ScottHirano. Mayhem Monkeys can follow their leader @MayhemMiller.

Check out the rest of this gallery on Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com!

(Step 1. Absorb EVERY kick, Step 2. ??????, Step 3. Profit. Props to the brilliant cine-files over at Pajiba for the inspiration behind this article.) 

Mixed martial arts fans are perhaps the most ruthless group of people out there; a quick scroll down any one of our comments sections only confirms this. One minute, a certain fighter is praised as a ruthless, badass hombre cut from the same cloth as the greatest champions the sport has ever known, and the next, they’re being told to save themselves the embarrassment of another performance and just retire already. It’s a crazy sport.

But then there are those few and far between fighters that we choose to rally behind regardless of where they currently stand in the MMA ranking system. Sometimes it’s simply because they can make us laugh, and other times it’s their “go for broke” mentality that wins us over. Sure, they’ve dropped seven of their last eight, including one to a drunken bar patron who accidentally stumbled into the ring, but all of those fights were like totally awesome, bro, so who are we to complain when they are kept around while other, more talented fighters are let go?

Here are eight fighters we will continue to root for, no matter how quickly their performances make us silently wish otherwise.

#8 – Aaron Riley

(Even when Riley *doesn’t* lose a fight, he still loses the fight.) 
Current record: 30-13-1
Record in last five fights: 2-3

Aaron Riley’s nickname could very well be “TUF Fodder,” because the man has fought nothing but The Ultimate Fighter alums, and often winners, for the better part of his UFC career. And it’s a shame, because the dude always brings the fight to these whippersnappers, but simply hasn’t been able to put any of them away. Most recently, he had his jaw broken again by TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson at UFC 135. Back at UFC 105, he was made into mince meat by TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson. Set to square off against, you guessed it, TUF 12 alum Cody McKenzie, at UFC on FUEL 3 in May, Riley may be looking at his final chance to prove he can hang with these young guns before he is demoted to the Strikeforce roster. Speaking of a certain Alaskan native…

Men who duckface get what’s coming to them. Props: @MayhemMiller

Following his embarrassing loss to Michael Bisping at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, no one was sure what would become of Jason “Mayhem” Miller. There was speculation that his performance during his first appearance with the promotion since 2005, when he dropped a lopsided decision to Georges St. Pierre, was poor enough to get him fired. Immediately after the event, Dana White was hesitant to comment on Mayhem’s future with the UFC.

However, it appears that Dana has decided to give Mayhem Miller one more chance. Last night, the UFC confirmed that the charismatic middleweight has been booked to fight against C.B. Dollaway at UFC 146, which takes place on May 26 in Las Vegas.

We didn’t have C.B. Dollaway in mind when we wrote that Mayhem deserved a fight against a middleweight gatekeeper, but “The Doberman” certainly fits the description. After losing to Amir Sadollah during The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, Dollaway has gone 5-3 in the UFC. He is currently riding a two fight losing streak after being knocked out by Mark Munoz and Jared Hamman.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/CagedInsider)

Most of us know that Jason Miller, who now calls Mark Munoz’s Reign Training Center home, was once a member of Team Quest, but some may be surprised to learn that from 1999 to around 2006, “Mayhem” spent most of his time in the gym training alongside the likes of Ricco Rodriguez, Tiki Ghosen, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Tito Ortiz as part of Team Punishment.

(And then there was one…)

According to Ortiz, it was during those formative years in Miller’s early career that he gave him some advice that he took and ran with.

(And now, two useless MMA commentators miss a fantastic standing heel-hook finish while trying to figure out how to pronounce “Vovchanchyn.” Props: EliteMMA)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- UFC 145: Brendan Schaub vs. Ben Rothwell Booked for March 24 in Montreal (MMA Mania)

- Frank Mir Says Alistair Overeem’s Cardio Will “Suck” Against Brock Lesnar (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Top 10 Worst New Year’s Eve MMA Fights in Japan (The Fight Nerd)

- Nate Diaz Denies October Run-In With Donald Cerrone (5th Round)

- The $8.18 UFC 141 Parlay That Will Literally Make You a Millionaire (MiddleEasy)

- As He Reflects on Loss to Michael Bisping, ‘Mayhem’ Miller Focuses on Uncertain Future (MMA Fighting)

- NYE Storylines: Who Retires First After a Loss, Fedor or Lesnar? (Fight Opinion)

- Moving Past ‘Worst Time Ever,’ Karo Parisyan Rediscovering Fire To Compete (FightLine)

- Gabriel Gonzaga: ‘The UFC Is My Home’ (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Countdown to UFC 141 Attracts Just 15,000 Viewers on FUEL (MMA Payout)

- Inside MMA: The 2011 Bazzie Awards (MMA Convert)

- Jon Fitch Says He Should Fight the Winner of Condit-Diaz if Victorious Against Johny Hendricks (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

Most ‘crimes’ in MMA take the form of inept judging and flagrant rule breaking, but this past year many professional fighters were caught up in activities that landed them inside of a very different sort of cage. Get ready for a trip down memory lane in our most depressing “booking roundup” of the year. Here’s your run down of 2011’s biggest arrests, convictions, acquittals, and sentencings.

(I know they’re beautiful, Dominick, but just because you promised to get them on TV doesn’t mean they qualify as assistant coaches.) 

The UFC announced yesterday that the fifteenth season of its reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, will feature current bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz and long time rival Urijah Faber as its coaches when it debuts on FX this March.

The pair last met in July at UFC 132, where “The Dominator” earned a unanimous decision nod and evened the score between the two in an exciting back-and-forth battle.Their initial meeting dates back over five years to the glory days of the WEC, where Faber scored a guillotine choke over the current champ within the first two minutes.

Since their UFC 132 Fight of the Night earning brawl, Cruz has scored another unanimous decision win over Demetrious Johnson, whereas Faber recently picked up a second round submission victory at UFC 139 over the man to lose the WEC bantamweight title to Cruz, Brian Bowles.

Tebowing: None of you are doing it right.

Another season of The Ultimate Fighter has come and gone, and we’re not certain what the future holds for it. The entire format of the show we knew and loved, then decided to ignore for a while, then were all like “Dude there’s no way Kimbo gets past Roy Nelson”, then went back to ignoring it when we were proven right, then decided “Well maybe Mayhem will be fun to watch” is about to change yet again. Raise your hand if you got lost during that last sentence.

If there’s one thing we understand at Cage Potato, it’s consistency. No matter how much the show changes, we’ll be around to give you our opinions on what to do with the finale’s biggest names. So let’s get to it, shall we?

Michael Bisping: Since losing to Wanderlei Silva back at UFC 110, Michael Bisping has gone 4-0 and established himself as a Top Ten Middleweight. Or at least that’s what I keep hearing, even though the guys he’s defeated in that time period have been on the lower to middle end of the middleweight division. In his post fight-interview with Ariel Helwani, Bisping hinted that his next fight has already been booked, and it’s against someone he hasn’t fought before. A fight against Alan Belcher makes sense, and should establish the winner as a legitimate contender in the middleweight division. Don’t act too surprised if the UFC uses Bisping as a litmus test for 7-0 (3-0 UFC) prospect Chris Weidman, either.

(“You maaaad, you maaaaad, you maaaaad!” Photo via MMAMania)

Tonight, TUF as we know it comes to an end. Before us lies a shadowy, uncertain world of live fights aired on F/X on Friday nights and international spin-offs. But no matter what comes next, you can feel secure in the fact that we’ll still be complaining about the show just as much as we always have, because we know no other way to live.

Welcome, friends, to our liveblog of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller Finale. On the menu this evening — Diego Brandao and Dennis Bermudez battle to decide the first featherweight TUF winner in UFC history, while John Dodson and TJ Dillashaw do the same for the bantamweights. Plus, heavy-handed TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson steps up against seasoned vet Yves Edwards, and in the main event, Michael Bisping looks to remove the smirk off the face of his latest rival, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, who will be making his first Octagon appearance in over six years.

Round-by-round results from the TUF 14 Finale main card on Spike TV will be piling up after the jump beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.

(Props: Heavy via Cagewriter. / Bisping addresses his supporters at the 5:50 mark. )

At yesterday’s weigh-ins for the Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, Michael Bisping did nothing to support his claims that there’s a somewhat decent person hiding underneath that bristly persona. The UFC middleweight contender missed weight by a quarter-pound — which he shed later — inviting boos from the crowd at the Palms in Las Vegas. After his opponent Jason Miller goaded the crowd further, telling them to “boo this man,” Bisping took the mic:

“I could give a fuck about getting fucking love. All I care about is smashing this dickhead’s head in. Tomorrow night, that’s gonna happen. Fuck you all.”

Our liveblog of the Spike TV main card kicks off at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the full weigh-in results from the TUF 14 Finale after the jump…

(Props: MMAFighting)

Despite Jason Miller‘s basic-cable cred, Michael Bisping will be the biggest UFC star to compete at the TUF 14 Finale on Saturday night. He’s also one of the biggest villains on the UFC roster — a fighter who fans love to hate. To some extent, you can blame that on reality show editing, which Bisping in fact does, starting at the 10:18 mark of this video interview. But he’s also been responsible for some real-life behavior that’s just nasty and wrong. Like Josh Koscheck, the villain persona that has been hoisted on Bisping seems to be an exaggerated version of what’s already there.

In this 20-minute pre-fight chat, Ariel Helwani gets the Count’s thoughts on his fight with Mayhem Miller, and attempts to reconcile Michael Bisping the bully character with Michael Bisping the human being. Here’s a cheat sheet…

By the end of this gallery, you’ll remember why you either love or hate this guy. Lots more Mayhem after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHub)

FightHubTv.com caught up with Chael Sonnen last night in Las Vegas where he hosted the Fighters Only World MMA Awards and the uncharacteristically reserved and noticeably glassy-eyed UFC middleweight sort of cleared up recent speculation about whom he will fight next.

According to “The Gangster from America,” contrary to popular belief, he will not be squaring off with Mark Munoz at the planned UFC on Fox 2 broadcast. Although he wouldn’t say when his next fight is, Sonnen did infer that his opponent will be decided this weekend.

The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale is just two days away, and though the bookies haven’t given us much to work with, we decided to throw y’all some last minute betting advice come fight night in case you plan on bluffing the piss out of Johnny Chan in the Palms Casino afterward. Check out the betting lines, courtesy of BestFightOdds, along with the almighty wisdom of the Great Potato, below.

Main Card (Spike TV)
Michael Bisping (-185) vs. Jason Miller (+160)
T.J. Dillashaw (-205) vs. John Dodson (+165)
Diego Brandao (-320) vs. Dennis Bermudez (+250)
Tony Ferguson (-255) vs. Yves Edwards (+205)

The Main Event: Let’s get right to it. Bisping has a lot of advantages going into this fight: he’s never been submitted, which is Miller’s bread and butter, he’s fought more in the past year, and he has considerably less pressure on him than Mayhem, who is out to prove to casual and hardcore fans alike that he is more than just a goofball TV personality. And we all know that Bisping will do anything, and I mean anything, to destroy those who slander him publicly, so Miller will most definitely be facing at a steep hill to climb for his first appearance in the octagon since 2005. But there are a couple crucial outside factors here. As Miller has stated, he is one hard headed son of a bitch, and despite what Bisping’s record says, have we ever seen him truly overwhelm an opponent as tough as Mayhem on the feet? You could argue Denis Kang, but I would respond to that argument with a pat on your head and a condescending chuckle.

(Gentlemen, please. You can *both* eat dicks. / GIF via IronForgesIron)

After a compact ten-episode run, Spike TV’s final season of The Ultimate Fighter ended last night. So what did we learn? Repeating short phrases over and over again gives them more rhetorical power. “Fufessional” is just another word for dumbass. Karma visits upon every asshole.

But before we put this sumbitch to bed, we have two more semi-final fights to get through. John “The Snitchin’ Magician” Dodson is training for his bantamweight face-off with teammate Johnny Bedford, while Bedford blatantly creeps on him the whole time. Coach Mayhem decides he won’t corner either man, leaving that responsibility up to the assistant coaches.

Says Dodson: “I only got taken down once, by Prince [John Albert], and I’m never going to get taken down again.” But taking Lil’ John down is, in fact, Bedford’s gameplan. And he doesn’t think Dodson has the power to hurt him. Dodson giggles and poses in the face-off after weigh-ins. Once again, we marvel at how small this man is, and how he should really be competing at 125, if such a division existed in the UFC. And once again, his size disadvantage probably won’t matter one damn bit.

The TUF 14 Finale is just a few days away, and unless you overheard Michael Bisping’s spoiler fail on Inside MMA, then this season’s participants in that finale are still a mystery to you. That being said, Team Mayhem coach Jason Miller has released the first of several video journals leading into his upcoming scrap with opposing coach and global pandemic, Michael Bisping, which goes down this Saturday at the Palms Casino.

Though not much is revealed in the first installment (other than Miller admitting Nick Diaz to be one of his favorite fighters), we do get a sneak peak at Mayhem’s diet and weight cutting method from nutritionist and Team Mayhem assistant coach Ryan Parsons. Turns out, Parsons is a strong believer in the power of romance in a fighter’s life. Tom Lawlor concurs.

(More proof that being on the right side of any photo immediately makes Bisping fall asleep. / Photo via CombatLifestyle)

While preparing for this Saturday’s TUF 14 Finale grudge match against Michael Bisping, Jason Miller recently wrote the following on his website:

“I just want everyone to understand how fricken hard I am training. I have never trained this hard or smart for a fight in my life. In ironic twist news- I’m totally getting reimbursed for John Dodson’s insubordination. I’m not even asking about Michael’s training, but for some reason all the friends that I’ve had for years that are working with him seem to be inclined to tell me about his camp and what he’s doing. I don’t want or need this info, I’m going to beat him regardless, just found it interesting. Pretty karmic.”

Hmm. Michael Bisping’s TUF 14 assistant coaches Tiki Ghosn and Rob McCullough train in the same Huntington Beach circles as Miller — could they be moles infiltrating the Brit’s camp in the name of American patriotism? Or is Mayhem just trying to get in the Count’s head? Bisping is convinced that it’s the latter, telling InsideMMA:

(Video courtesy of YouTube/RangerUpVideo)

We’ve considered inviting the think lab at Ranger Up Clothing if they’d consider coming to work for us, but we didn’t for fear that they’d laugh at us and punch us in the face just for asking.

At least we’ve still got their hilarious pre-fight smack talk videos.

With The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale just a couple weeks away, many of us have been wondering how prepared Jason Miller was for his return to the UFC, especially considering that he hasn’t truly faced legitimate competition since his unanimous decision loss to Jake Shields just over 2 years ago. Aaron Tru of TruMMA was able to catch up with the Team Mayhem coach recently, and aside from playing a good old fashioned game of “Sactap,” was able to achieve a rather serious conversation with Miller, at one point even discussing the WEC and Strikeforce veteran’s seriousness (or lack thereof) when it comes to training. And “Mayhem” was quick to set things straight for those doubters out there:

On his training camp: “[Training] is going fantastic. I’m really surprised. This is the first camp that I’ve got a super serious camp in my entire career, and I’m an old damn man by fighter’s standards. It feels awesome. I’ve never been in such good shape and I’ve never had such a good mental focus going into a fight. It’s really refreshing. I was like, ‘Oh, this is what training camp is supposed to be like.’”

On how serious he takes his training: “The reason I do this sport, the reason I got into this career, was because I enjoy going to a padded room where I can act as crazy as I want and it’s not an institution. I think you can train seriously and still have a lot of fun. Even on The Ultimate Fighter, here at Reign Training Center, even going back to high school wrestling, I was always like the funny guy on the team and I feel like it keeps morale up.”

It’s hard to disagree with Miller, who has shown a true knack for not only coaching but connecting with his team on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, whereas Team Bisping seemingly can’t have a sparring session that doesn’t erupt into a brawl at some point.

Check out some more highlights from the interview after the jump. 

“The Stoic Russian” is a hurtful stereotype, so we didn’t include it. The more you know…..

People complain about “pro-wrestling bullshit” invading MMA, but it’s been demonstrated over and over again: personality will get you places in the fight game. We’ve pointed this out before, like when we advised Jon Fitch on how to ensure a title shot. Some fighters are talked about incessantly on forums, at lunch tables, and in interviews because they’ve managed to capture the interest of fans, and many times it is because of things that they have done or said while not in the cage.

Come on in and let’s talk about archetypes, drama, and personality. Because there’s only so many technique videos out there.

(Round two of Dillashaw vs. Delorme, via IronForgesIron)

Roland Delorme’s foot is still as red and lumpy as Bruce Vilanch’s face. It hurts like a bitch, but at least he can’t transmit it to anybody else, whatever it is. And there’s still a good chance he’ll be cleared to fight, so fingers crossed.

Jason Miller brings in former Chute Boxe coach Rafael Cordeiro — who currently trains Mayhem at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach — to work with the Team Miller guys on striking drills. But Michael Bisping ups the ante, bringing in Tito Ortiz — his coach on TUF 3 — for a ground-and-pound clinic. “It’s not about the money or fame,” Ortiz tells the blue team. “It’s about us being men and seeing who’s the baddest guy alive.” Marcus Brimage is star-struck: “I was like, wow…that’s a big fucking head!”

Brimage and Akira Corassani are still harping on the fact that TJ Dillashaw asked to fight Delorme instead of Dodson, looking for an easy road to the bantamweight semi-finals. So Akira and Diego Brandao hatch a plan to get even with TJ. It’s a pretty simple plan, really — they plan to beat the shit out of him at practice.

(Brandao vs. Siler. Fight starts at the 1:09 mark. Props: IronForgesIron)

After the fiasco that followed the Akira/Neace fight last week, Team Mayhem coach Ryan Parsons wants to give Michael Bisping a piece of his mind. “You’re the kind of guy that can’t keep his motherfucking mouth shut,” Parsons tells him. “Which is why you’re the most hated fighter in the UFC. I get it now.”

“I earn a lot more money than you, motherfucker,” Bisping says, clearly a 1%’er.

“Go spit on somebody,” Parsons says. And so on. Bisping feels that Team Miller should take their loss like men, and that Parsons should fuck off.

The next fight has already been announced as Diego Brandao (Bisping’s #1 featherweight) vs. Steven Siler (Miller’s #4). Siler thinks that people don’t believe in his skills, but Team Bisping isn’t taking him lightly, especially because Brandao’s cardio is a little lacking during practice. Still, Bisping is excited to see what the half-crazy Brazilian can do.

And awww, Jason Miller’s dog is at the weigh-ins.

(The end of Dustin Neace vs. Akira Corassani…OR WAS IT?? Gif props: IronForgesIron)

After Dustin Pague’s victory last week — which brought Team Mayhem up 4-0 on the scorecard, FYI — Dustin asks his team if they could do a quick “Glory to God” cheer, which Jason Miller actually participates in, even though he’s a die-hard atheist who usually loves to mess with religious people. That just shows what kind of coach Miller is. He let his fighter have his moment, and he didn’t even make Pague participate in a “Glory to Science” cheer afterwards.

As the fighters return to their prep-rooms, Diego Brandao is in Murderous Brazilian Mode (what else is new), and starts to yell at Steve Siler for some reason. “I’m gonna take you head off, bidge!”, etc. Michael Bisping explains that he’s unstable and just wants to fight. Fortunately, he’s in a welcoming environment for that sort of thing.

Mayhem gives Dustin Neace a cowboy hat with a B on it, which stands for “Beast,” his nickname. Josh Ferguson — previously known as “the dude in the cowboy hat” — lays down accusations of swagger-jackin’. (“Come on man, I got one thing going for me here, and you gotta rip it off?”) Oddly enough, Ferguson’s hat also has a ‘B’ on it, even though his nickname doesn’t start with that letter. Unless one of you knows its actual significance, I’m just going to assume it stands for “bumpkin.”

(And in case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight.) 

In what appears to be another step towards Strikeforce’s eventual collapse, rumor has it that former Strikeforce middleweight title challenger Tim Kennedy is on his way to the UFC. The first red flag that got people’s attention was oddly enough Tim’s Facebook page, where he recently added the UFC to his list of employers. Shortly after, Kennedy’s fighter profile popped up on the UFC’s UK website, then eventually the UFC’s main website, so unless someone with very strange goals has hacked the UFC mainframe, I’d say this is about a lock.