Retired fighter Jason “Mayhem” Miller found himself in the MMA headlines last weekend after a series of argumentative back-and-forth tweets with UFC president Dana White. On Monday, he’s back in the news, but for something far more serious.
Miller was arrested on Monday morning and taken into custody for burglary, according to the Mission Viejo, California Police Services website. A department spokeswoman reached by MMA Fighting could not immediately offer any additional details of Miller’s arrest, citing the Privacy Act.
TMZ reported that he had broken into a church, sprayed a fire extinguisher and broken many items. They also reported he had been found naked but coherent, sitting on a couch.
According to the Mission Viejo PD site, police were summoned around 8:30 am for a burglary report on the 24100 block of Alicia Parkway and responded four minutes later.
He was arrested and is currently in custody at the Intake Release Center in Santa Ana, facing $20,000 bail. His next hearing on charges will take place on Wednesday. On his arrest information, his occupation is listed as “comedian.”
The 31-year-old, who is perhaps best known from his hosting stint on MTV’s “Bully Beatdown,” retired from mixed martial arts after losing his last fight, which took place at UFC 146 in May. He had a career record of 28-9 with 1 no contest.
Afterward, he told fans he was preparing to embark on his new life with open arms, saying on a recent edition of The MMA Hour, “I feel a little bit freed, in a weird way. In the strangest way I feel free. I know that sounds strange when I devoted my entire life to fighting. I feel like life is unlocked to a whole new set of adventures.”
On Saturday, he and White exchanged a series of heated emails, but hours afterward, White said he regretted escalating any animosity and offered Miller good fortune in the future, telling the media, “I’m sure he’s not going through a very good time right now, no matter how much he wants to say he is. A guy like Jason, he’s one of those nutty-type guys. Has he always been my favorite fighter? No. A lot of the antics that he does, I’m not a fan of and I don’t like – the pink boas and all that kind of stuff. I like guys that are serious and guys that come in to fight hard and win. But I don’t hate Jason Miller or wish any ill will to the kid. Whatever he has moved on to in the next chapter of his life, I hope he’s successful, and I hope he does well.”
Less than 36 hours later, Miller was arrested.