The racially-charged altercation between Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Uriah Hall was nothing more than a misguided publicity stunt, according to Miller.
With his personal life already spiraling out of control, Miller admitted that he engaged Hall outside of a local MMA event in Commerce, California fully knowing there would be cameras around.
I was just giving them some publicity, Miller told MMAInterviews.TV. I knew people were like, cameras out and stuff. Look, [Hall] is my brother, I love him. He’s a good man. He’ll be the damn champion, if he just allows himself to become the champion, he’ll be the champion. I mean he’s got to get through a damn sea of tough dudes, but I wish him the best.
People really hurt my feelings calling me a racist. That was like the worst. I was like, ‘What? Get out of here.’ I’m more black than I am racist.
The original premise of the incident, according to MMA journalist Spencer Lazara’s YouTube footage, was that Hall intervened during a heated dispute involving Miller and a woman attending the event.
The woman was believed to be Miller’s ex-girlfriend, who the former MMA star had allegedly assaulted in the past.
After watching the situation escalate from afar, Hall made the decision to step in and try to break things up. The Good Samaritan act would ultimately come back to bite Hall, who immediately became the recipient of Miller’s rage.
Without warning, Miller began throwing up inappropriate hand gestures and yelling racial slurs, prompting Hall to throw a punch at him. The brief scuffle was quickly broken up by security, and both men were escorted from the event.
Thankfully, Miller appears to finally have his life back on track. Since the incident, he has issued both a private and public apology to Hall, who quickly forgave him. Even in the interview above, Miller seems more calm and subdued than normal.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope that the prolonged mayhem has finally ended in this once beloved fighter’s life.
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