Cesar Gracie: Showtime snub led to Jason "Mayhem" Miller's deal with UFC
by Steven Marrocco on Apr 27, 2011 at 4:20 pm ET
There's a reason fans didn't see Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs. Nick Diaz or Miller vs. Tim Kennedy, and it has nothing to do with weight or scheduling.
According to Diaz's trainer Cesar Gracie, the move of "Mayhem" from Strikeforce to the UFC was based in part on Showtime's disinterest in putting him on the premium-cable channel.
"After the Nashville fight, Showtime just didn't want 'Mayhem' any more," Gracie on Tuesday told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).
Only five months ago, the trainer was knee-deep in heated negotiations with Strikeforce over a possible catchweight fight between rivals Miller and Nick Diaz, a middleweight and welterweight, respectively. But the possibility came to naught when Gracie and representatives for Miller couldn't agree on a limit at which to hold the bout.
Diaz instead went on to fight Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, and Miller was at one point scheduled to meet Tim Kennedy for a third time – the two had split a pair of bouts earlier in their respective careers – on March 5 at "Strikeforce: Columbus." But Miller was replaced by Melvin Manhoef less than two weeks later with no official reason given for the switch (at the time, Strikeforce said the bout was simply never signed).
According to Gracie, though, there was an unofficial reason that was never publicly aired, and it stemmed from the incident that followed "Strikeforce: Nashville" in which Miller tussled on-camera with members of the Cesar Gracie Fight Team after then-champion Jake Shields' win over Dan Henderson.
"They weren't happy," Gracie said of Showtime. "They told 'Mayhem' not to go in the cage, and a couple other incidents happened after that. What I had heard is that Showtime said, 'We don't want this guy on the network again.' So he was stuck, and you haven't seen him fight for that reason."
Showtime officials declined comment on this story. Representatives for Miller could not be reached for comment.
Miller's most recent Strikeforce fight took place on the preliminary card of the Nashville event, which took place April 17, 2010. Five months later, he took on Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba at DREAM.16 and earned a first-round submission victory.
During his layoff, Miller appeared on TV screens across the country as the host of the third season of "Bully Beatdown," which premiered this past December.
Just this past week, news broke that Miller had signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC, and subsequent reports revealed that he'd meet Aaron Simpson at UFC 132 in his first fight with the promotion since a one-and-done stint at UFC 52 in which he was bested by now-champion Georges St-Pierre.
"I really want to thank all of you for showing your support," Miller wrote on his Twitter account after his new deal became public. "Can't wait to show my skills in the UFC's octagon."
Although Gracie could hardly be mistaken as an advocate for Miller, he conceded that Miller's recent signing is good news.
"His only option was to be transferred over, and it's a good move by him," Gracie said. "He's a tough guy, and we'll see how he does in the UFC."
