Former UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping has recalled his first run-in with fellow Ultimate Fighter tournament victor, Nate Diaz ahead of his December 2011 clash with Jason Miller – where the Stockton native encouraged Bisping to defeat the latter. Bisping, who scooped The Ultimate Fighter 3 tournament in 2006, would go on to clinch the […]
Former UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping has recalled his first run-in with fellow Ultimate Fighter tournament victor, Nate Diaz ahead of his December 2011 clash with Jason Miller – where the Stockton native encouraged Bisping to defeat the latter.
Bisping, who scooped The Ultimate Fighter 3 tournament in 2006, would go on to clinch the undisputed middleweight title before the close of his lengthy career, as well as receive an induction into the Modern Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame.
The Manchester-born favorite has since turned his hand to analyst and color commentary work for the organization, after his 2018 retirement, making his pay-per-view commentary debut for the promotion earlier this year.
Michael Bisping recalls his first-ever meeting with Nate Diaz in an elevator in 2011
Hosting on his official YouTube channel – Bisping detailed his first-ever run-in with the aforenoted, Diaz, with the pair sharing an elevator ride, which ended with Diaz urging Bisping to defeat the above mentioned, Miller, following the infamous Strikeforce: Nashville brawl.
“I’m in Denver, Colorado – there’s a fight; Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson vs. Jon Jones,” Michael Bisping said. “I was a guest fighter, and I walk into an elevator, and there’s Nate Diaz. We didn’t know each other – there was a lot of other people in the elevator, it wasn’t like this weird, stone-cold silence. There was other people in there but everyone was doing that whole elevator-thing where no one talks and just stares forward, all a bit awkwardly.”
“And then as Nate Diaz got out the elevator before me – because remember the Strikeforce riot with Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz and Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller and all the rest of it,” Michael Bisping explained. “As Nate Diaz walked out the elevator before the doors shut, he turns around and goes (points two middle fingers) ‘F*ck Jason Miller, f*ck ‘Mayhem.’ He was doing an F ‘Mayhem’ in a solidarity attempt in Michael Bisping attempting to dethrone him.”
Troubled MMA veteran Jason “Mayhem” Miller will be behind bars for the immediate future. According to a report from the Orange County Register, Miller pleaded guilty to two charges. They stem from him violating a protective order to stay away from his …
Troubled MMA veteran Jason “Mayhem” Miller will be behind bars for the immediate future. According to a report from the Orange County Register, Miller pleaded guilty to two charges. They stem from him violating a protective order to stay away from his ex-girlfriend. Court records showed he smashed a large marble table at her home […]
Having the chance to fight in the UFC is every MMA fighter’s dream, and many have been willing to endure all kinds of personal struggles and sacrifices in order to make it there. However, the Octagon has a nasty habit of chewing fighters up and spitting them back out, and adjusting back to normal life […]
Having the chance to fight in the UFC is every MMA fighter’s dream, and many have been willing to endure all kinds of personal struggles and sacrifices in order to make it there.
However, the Octagon has a nasty habit of chewing fighters up and spitting them back out, and adjusting back to normal life afterwards can prove to be hard to deal with.
Suddenly out of the limelight, down on their luck, and with the knowledge that their best days in the sport were now behind them, some fighters were simply unable to cope, and that obviously brought out the worst in them.
In this article we’ll investigate 10 of the most dramatic cases of fighters whose lives spiraled completely out of control after leaving the UFC.
Terry Etim
Along with the likes of Michael Bisping, Liverpool’s Terry Etim was one of a small group of fighters who helped put UK MMA on the map in the UFC, compiling a respectable 6-5 record over a six-year period, though he’s most remembered for falling victim to an instant-classic wheel kick KO from Edson Barboza.
The UFC released Etim in early 2013 after a dip in form saw him lose three fights in a row, but he was still only 27-years-old and soon signed for Bellator, claiming a victory in his debut.
However, Etim then suffered an ACL injury, and for the next three years he simply vanished. No social media posts, no interviews, no fights.
Then, in February of 2017, almost exactly four years since his last UFC appearance, the now 31-year-old Etim suddenly burst back into the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
According to multiple witnessed, Etim jumped out of a car one afternoon in Liverpool city centre and deliberately ran into traffic, throwing himself into a series of stationary cars, and even a single-decker bus.
Photo Credit: Liverpool Echo
The blood-soaked Etim broke free from friends who were trying to stop him, but was eventually restrained and taken to hospital suffering from serious internal and facial injuries
Etim was released from hospital several weeks later and has once again vanished from the spotlight, with no explanation being offered for his alarming behavior.
The MMA world is currently buzzing with the news that former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre wants to make a comeback to the UFC after a three year break from fighting. Given his past success, there’s every chance that if and when he does return, GSP will be able to win back his title and reclaim
The MMA world is currently buzzing with the news that former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre wants to make a comeback to the UFC after a three year break from fighting.
Given his past success, there’s every chance that if and when he does return, GSP will be able to win back his title and reclaim his spot at the summit of the pound-for-pound rankings.
However, nothing is certain in this rapidly evolving sport, and as you’ll see in this article, over the years there’s been many occasions where stars have returned to the cage after a lengthy absence, only to have their dreams of recapturing past glories quickly turn into the stuff of nightmares.
(“So then the officer grabbed me like this and demanded to know which orifice I was hiding the bath salts in and…what were we talking about again?”)
Following a couple high profile, highly-criticizedsignings and the most epic press release of all time (not that we had anything invested in it), Italian promotion Venator FC held its third event over the weekend. It was a night of surprises, to say the least, with perhaps the most surprising thing being that the event didn’t end up being the absolute shitshow that it seemed primed to be.
In the main event of the evening, UFC veteran and contemptible asshole Rousimar Palhares was obliterated inside of a minute by heavy underdog Emil Meek. In a light heavyweight matchup, TUF 3 alum Matt Hamill faced off with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and met a similarly brief/violent end, and even Cody McKenzie managed to secure his first victory in over two years via his signature guillotine.
But atop the shitshow mountain stood Jason “Mayhem” Miller, who was plucked from a 4 year absence (the majority of which he spent in the back seat of a squad car) to face fellow UFC vet Luke Barnatt in a middleweight title fight. Mayhem’s return seemed doomed from the beginning when he showed up to the scales a whopping 24 pounds overweight, but after being pulled from the fight and rebooked at light heavyweight against Mattia Schiavolin, the stage was finally set for what would surely be a disastrous performance.
Shockingly, however, Miller not only looked halfway decent in the cage, but appears as if he might actually be on the path to redemption.
(“So then the officer grabbed me like this and demanded to know which orifice I was hiding the bath salts in and…what were we talking about again?”)
Following a couple high profile, highly-criticizedsignings and the most epic press release of all time (not that we had anything invested in it), Italian promotion Venator FC held its third event over the weekend. It was a night of surprises, to say the least, with perhaps the most surprising thing being that the event didn’t end up being the absolute shitshow that it seemed primed to be.
In the main event of the evening, UFC veteran and contemptible asshole Rousimar Palhares was obliterated inside of a minute by heavy underdog Emil Meek. In a light heavyweight matchup, TUF 3 alum Matt Hamill faced off with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and met a similarly brief/violent end, and even Cody McKenzie managed to secure his first victory in over two years via his signature guillotine.
But atop the shitshow mountain stood Jason “Mayhem” Miller, who was plucked from a 4 year absence (the majority of which he spent in the back seat of a squad car) to face fellow UFC vet Luke Barnatt in a middleweight title fight. Mayhem’s return seemed doomed from the beginning when he showed up to the scales a whopping 24 pounds overweight, but after being pulled from the fight and rebooked at light heavyweight against Mattia Schiavolin, the stage was finally set for what would surely be a disastrous performance.
Shockingly, however, Miller not only looked halfway decent in the cage, but appears as if he might actually be on the path to redemption.
Video after the jump.
Though Miller would ultimately succumb to a rear-naked choke midway through the second round, he had clearly taken the first round and appeared to be in control in the second until his cardio got the best of him. All things considered, it was a hell of a performance for the formerly prolific fighter, and one that Miller himself sees as, hopefully, the start of something new.
Speaking with MMANews.pl following the fight, Miller showed hints of the thoughtful, charismatic and above all else, coherent man we came to know before he began his downward spiral.
“If you don’t learn from an experience, that’s ’cause you haven’t thought about it long enough,” said Miller. “Look, it’s only been about an hour and I already thought a lot about this. I have an idea of where to start to change my whole life.”
While it’s still too early to tell whether or not Miller will fall back on old habits once he’s reentered the states, it’s hard not to feel genuine remorse for the guy. Not for what he’s done, mind you, but for what he could have been outside of the cage. Jason Miller is not the kind of guy whose career necessarily had to begin and end with fighting — his stint as the host of Bully Beatdown proved as much — but if it took getting his ass-kicked by someone who *wasn’t* a police officer to make him see the light, we sincerely hope that he can stay on the straight and narrow long enough to take back some of the things he’s lost. He may never be a UFC champion, sure, but there’s still promise there.
Anyways, that’s just a fellow lunatic’s thoughts on the matter. You can check out Miller’s fight against Schiavolin below.
