An unlikely hero arose from the aftermath of Venator FC 3 last weekend (May 21, 2016) in the form of Nordic warrior Emil Weber Meek. Facing notorious scumbag Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace Rousimar Palhares in the main event of the Italian MMA card, Meek came in facing stacked odds and also the danger of losing
An unlikely hero arose from the aftermath of Venator FC 3 last weekend (May 21, 2016) in the form of Nordic warrior Emil Weber Meek. Facing notorious scumbag Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace Rousimar Palhares in the main event of the Italian MMA card, Meek came in facing stacked odds and also the danger of losing a limb. Known for his string of offences in mixed martial arts, including holding submission too long and attempting to remove Jake Shields’ eyes, Palhares is a daunting task to say the least, but Meek actually called Venator officials and asked for the fight.
The promotion was apparently having trouble signing anyone to fight the notorious BJJ submission artist, but when it came to fight night, ‘Valhalla’ had no problems dispatching the UFC veteran and former World Series of Fighting welterweight champion. MMAFighting.comhad the interview with Meek after his awesome win:
“Yeah, that’s right. I heard from my friend Jack Hermansson that they were having trouble finding an opponent for him, and everybody is turning it down, and they try to buy opponents for him and everything. And I’m just like, ‘okay, this is a great opportunity, and I need to get on that right away.’
“So, I just jumped on it. I called Frank, the president, and asked, like, I really want to fight, and if they would let me, because he is a lot more experienced and has competed on a higher level. So, I wasn’t sure if he would take the fight or not. But, they asked Palhares’ camp, and they said yes. So, the fight was on all of a sudden.”
“You know, the fun thing about fighting Palhares is that everybody wanted me to win,” said Meek. “I don’t think that everybody thought I would win… The thing [is] that everybody was rooting for me, and I really appreciate that… So, yeah, I really wanted to beat him, and I believe in my heart that I could do it. I would never ask for a fight if I wouldn’t believe that I would actually have a chance to win.
“And yeah, you know, I didn’t want to hurt him for all the fighters that he’s hurt. It’s not like that. But if he would have hurt me, I would have a different opinion about that, but I stopped the fight when the fight was over. I wasn’t like, ‘Okay, he’s going to get three extra punches because he hurt somebody else,’ but I guess that would be fair though.”
So Meek had his way with ‘Toquinho’ with relative ease, and he’s caught the attention of all the major players. The 8-2 Norwegian says Joe Silva of the UFC emailed him and congratulated him on the win over ‘Paul Harris.’
An unlikely hero arose from the aftermath of Venator FC 3 last weekend (May 21, 2016) in the form of Nordic warrior Emil Weber Meek. Facing notorious scumbag Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace Rousimar Palhares in the main event of the Italian MMA card, Meek came in facing stacked odds and also the danger of losing
An unlikely hero arose from the aftermath of Venator FC 3 last weekend (May 21, 2016) in the form of Nordic warrior Emil Weber Meek. Facing notorious scumbag Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace Rousimar Palhares in the main event of the Italian MMA card, Meek came in facing stacked odds and also the danger of losing a limb. Known for his string of offences in mixed martial arts, including holding submission too long and attempting to remove Jake Shields’ eyes, Palhares is a daunting task to say the least, but Meek actually called Venator officials and asked for the fight.
The promotion was apparently having trouble signing anyone to fight the notorious BJJ submission artist, but when it came to fight night, ‘Valhalla’ had no problems dispatching the UFC veteran and former World Series of Fighting welterweight champion. MMAFighting.comhad the interview with Meek after his awesome win:
“Yeah, that’s right. I heard from my friend Jack Hermansson that they were having trouble finding an opponent for him, and everybody is turning it down, and they try to buy opponents for him and everything. And I’m just like, ‘okay, this is a great opportunity, and I need to get on that right away.’
“So, I just jumped on it. I called Frank, the president, and asked, like, I really want to fight, and if they would let me, because he is a lot more experienced and has competed on a higher level. So, I wasn’t sure if he would take the fight or not. But, they asked Palhares’ camp, and they said yes. So, the fight was on all of a sudden.”
“You know, the fun thing about fighting Palhares is that everybody wanted me to win,” said Meek. “I don’t think that everybody thought I would win… The thing [is] that everybody was rooting for me, and I really appreciate that… So, yeah, I really wanted to beat him, and I believe in my heart that I could do it. I would never ask for a fight if I wouldn’t believe that I would actually have a chance to win.
“And yeah, you know, I didn’t want to hurt him for all the fighters that he’s hurt. It’s not like that. But if he would have hurt me, I would have a different opinion about that, but I stopped the fight when the fight was over. I wasn’t like, ‘Okay, he’s going to get three extra punches because he hurt somebody else,’ but I guess that would be fair though.”
So Meek had his way with ‘Toquinho’ with relative ease, and he’s caught the attention of all the major players. The 8-2 Norwegian says Joe Silva of the UFC emailed him and congratulated him on the win over ‘Paul Harris.’
Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller is supposedly ready to change his entire life in following his submission loss to Mattia Schiavolin at last Saturday’s Venator FC 3 fro Milan, Italy; a fight before which he missed weight by a baffling 24 pounds for his originally scheduled middleweight title bout with Luke Barnatt. It’s common knowledge that the
Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller is supposedly ready to change his entire life in following his submission loss to Mattia Schiavolin at last Saturday’s Venator FC 3 fro Milan, Italy; a fight before which he missed weight by a baffling 24 pounds for his originally scheduled middleweight title bout with Luke Barnatt.
It’s common knowledge that the former UFC and Strikeforce competitor has fallen on hard times as of late with seemingly countless run-ins with the law that continuously appear on the pages of tabloid sites everywhere, but in an interview with MMANews.pl (via Bloody Elbow) after his Venator loss, ‘Mayhem’ vowed to turn it around:
“If you don’t learn from an experience, that’s ’cause you haven’t thought about it long enough. 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.”
Miller noted that he wouldn’t make excuses, instead choosing to focus on getting back into the cage, even in defeat. With a positive mindset on place, Miller said he wants to shake off the ring rust:
“I don’t like to make any excuses. I pride myself on being able to fight anyone at any time,” Mayhem said. “Mattia really cranked it up tonight. I felt like I was winning, but then I was losing. Suddenly I lost. I’m kinda shaking some ring rust off. It was a hard way to learn it in front of a beautiful Italian crowd, but I feel this is kind of a re-awakening of the Mayhem. I felt a positive feeling that I haven’t felt the longest time. So despite the loss I’m being hopeful for the future.”
The man who once hosted MTV’s “Bully Beatdown” — and fought al-time great UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre — took an honest retrospective from the bout, finding small positives while admitted that there was still much to be worked on. With that established, Miller closed by affirming that his excitement for MMA was back:
“You can see by my performance, it wasn’t a complete loss,” he said. “I had my moments of goodness, but overall I see that there’s a lot to be fixed. I’ll go back to the drawing board, tweak some things, figure some things out. I had a lot of fun, but not as much fun as I could have had.
“I have a lot to work on, now I have a starting point. I haven’t been in front of a crowd in four years. That was a big thing, because of that excitement. […] A lot of things went wrong. But I’m still Mayhem, still here, and you can’t kill Mayhem!”
With his endless and concerning legal troubles having unfortunately portrayed as nothing but a raving lunatic of sorts for the past several years, it’s no doubt refreshing to see ‘Mayhem’ focused on something good like athletic competition. Staying sober and out of trouble as he prepares to resurrect his martial arts career will be another thing, however.
Are you rooting for the ‘Mayhem’ to return, or have you already seen enough?
It was a rough night for UFC veterans Rousimar Palhares and Jason “Mayhem” Miller Saturday at Venator FC 3, as both were defeated in their respective matches.
Palhares, a former World Series of Fighting champion, was knocked out by Emil Weber Meek i…
It was a rough night for UFC veterans Rousimar Palhares and Jason “Mayhem” Miller Saturday at Venator FC 3, as both were defeated in their respective matches.
Palhares, a former World Series of Fighting champion, was knocked out by Emil Weber Meek in just 45 seconds, while Miller suffered a second round rear-naked choke defeat at the hands of Matta Schiavolin in his first fight since 2012.
Luke Barnatt, Miller’s original opponent until he came in 24 pounds over weight, scored a victory over Stefan Croitoru to become the Venator FC middleweight champion and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou finished Matt Hamill in another featured bout.
Complete results can be found below:
Emil Weber Meek def. Rousimar Palhares via TKO (strike) at :45 of Round 1
Luke Barnatt def. Stefan Croitoru via TKO (strikes) at 2:32 of Round 2 to become Venator FC middleweight champion
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def. Matt Hamill via KO (strike) at :37 of Round 1
Marvin Vettori def. Igor Araujo via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:13 of Round 1
Mattia Schiavolin def. Jason “Mayhem” Miller via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:10 of Round 2
Karl Amoussou def. Giovanni Melillo via TKO (strikes) at 4:51 of Round 1
Jack Hermansson def. Ireneusz Cholewa via TKO (strikes) at 1:05 of Round 3
Cody McKenzie def. Valeriu Mircea via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:30 of Round 2
Che Mills vs. Terry Montgomery was declared a no-contest due to an illegal elbow
You guys remember how Jason Miller was recently plucked from whatever Mission Viejo drug den he’s been rotting away in and booked for a fight against fellow former UFC middleweight Luke Barnatt, right? Or that even after being booked in said fight, he seemed to be under the impression that he was fighting UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett? How about the fact that he was *then* arrested and held on a million dollars bail, or that the President of the promotion that booked him then used a satirical statement we wrote as his company’s actual press release?
Well, it might shock you to learn that Miller hasn’t exactly used this fight as an opportunity to turn his life around, as some have suggested it would be. At this morning’s weigh-ins, Miller showed up a staggering 24 pounds over the middleweight limit and has subsequently been pulled from his fight.
You guys remember how Jason Miller was recently plucked from whatever Mission Viejo drug den he’s been rotting away in and booked for a fight against fellow former UFC middleweight Luke Barnatt, right? Or that even after being booked in said fight, he seemed to be under the impression that he was fighting UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett? How about the fact that he was *then* arrested and held on a million dollars bail, or that the President of the promotion that booked him then used a satirical statement we wrote as his company’s actual press release?
Well, it might shock you to learn that Miller hasn’t exactly used this fight as an opportunity to turn his life around, as some have suggested it would be. At this morning’s weigh-ins, Miller showed up a staggering 24 pounds over the middleweight limit and has subsequently been pulled from his fight.
Video and details after the jump.
You gotta love the hubris of Miller thinking that taking off his board shorts would somehow help him make weight here. It’s arguably a more scathing indictment of his current mental state than the 14 charges he will likely be arrested for while making his way to his car later today.
The craziest thing? Venator not only didn’t pull Miller from the fight immediately, but offered Barnatt 30 percent of Miller’s purse plus an extra five thousand euros to still fight Miller, who it bears repeating showed up 4 pounds over the light heavyweight limit for a middleweight bout. Barnatt and has instead been booked against Stefan Croitoru, a 6-1 Moldovian middleweight who weighed in at 183 for a separate bout on the Venator III card, in a five-round bout.
Oh, and just in case you’re wondering, Venator is still attempting to find a replacement opponent for Miller on a day’s notice, because it’s not like they’re just going to just let a prize like Miller slip away from them, right? The man is clearly taking the first steps on a path to redemption, and anyone who thinks otherwise can kindly suck on Frank Merenda’s nuts.
At this point, there are few jokes left to be made at the expense of Jason “Mayhem” Miller, whose downward spiral over the past five years has seen him arrested for severalacts of assault and engage in a standoff with Los Angeles SWAT members (a standoff which he live-tweeted) among other crimes and misdemeanors. It’s been nothing short of heartbreaking to witness, and made all the worse by the knowledge that the path on which he is currently traveling seems destined to end in only the darkest of ways.
Yet despite the many, many warning signs Miller has given off in recent years, the former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight was inexplicably booked in a match against fellow UFC alum Luke Barnatt for Italian promotion VenatorFC this coming May — a story that was immediately undercut by Miller’s subsequent arrest for driving under the influence.
As you might expect, we are not about to deliver the news that Miller has made a miraculous recovery and has rededicated himself to the sport that made him such a notorious and likable personality to begin with. No, we’re here to tell you that “Mayhem” has been arrested YET AGAIN, and the best thing we can say is that thankfully no one was hurt.
At this point, there are few jokes left to be made at the expense of Jason “Mayhem” Miller, whose downward spiral over the past five years has seen him arrested for severalacts of assault and engage in a standoff with Los Angeles SWAT members (a standoff which he live-tweeted) among other crimes and misdemeanors. It’s been nothing short of heartbreaking to witness, and made all the worse by the knowledge that the path on which he is currently traveling seems destined to end in only the darkest of ways.
Yet despite the many, many warning signs Miller has given off in recent years, the former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight was inexplicably booked in a match against fellow UFC alum Luke Barnatt for Italian promotion VenatorFC this coming May – a story that was immediately undercut by Miller’s subsequent arrest for driving under the influence.
As you might expect, we are not about to deliver the news that Miller has made a miraculous recovery and has rededicated himself to the sport that made him such a notorious and likable personality to begin with. No, we’re here to tell you that “Mayhem” has been arrested YET AGAIN, and the best thing we can say is that thankfully no one was hurt.
Details after the jump.
According to FOX Sports (via TMZ), Miller was nabbed yet again by Orange County police following “an incident that took place in January where the former UFC middleweight allegedly vandalized a tattoo shop with graffiti.” Due to the apparently extensive nature of the damage he inflicted (and the fact that he was out on bail when he committed the crime in question), Miller is currently being held on a bail of 1 million goddamn dollars.
One would imagine that this latest arrest will serve as the beginning and end of Miller’s expected return to the cage, but given how fiercely Venator FC president Frank Meranda defended Miller upon signing him, who knows what will happen to the former Strikeforce star.
What’s that? You say that you didn’t hear about Meranda’s defence? Well strap in for this one, Nation, because not only did the Venator president pen a (poorly-worded) press release condemning those of us who thought that putting Miller back in the cage was an inhumane cash grab as “idiots,” but he also personally took to Twitter to tell our buddy The Naked Gambler to “suck his dick.”
No joke. Here’s a sample of said press release:
Be fined (sic) does not make Miller a criminal to my eyes. I will not cancel any match for this reason. Indeed, I find it absolutely disgusting the some press rage against a person who is working hard in the gym to get back doing what he loves: Fighting in the cage.
For all the poor idiots who continue to speak of the mental condition of Miller. Miller is a born actor. These days he’s proving his qualities with never ending jokes on the internet and twitter. He was not “drunk” when he said Josh Barnett instead of Luke Barnatt. He is just doing with great skills his PR job, above all with no trash talk and without offending anyone as it’s quite normal in modern MMA, but with subtle irony, playing the character of “mental devastated” that every stupid in this world lightly gives to him without actually knowing him.
Jason Miller is not a saint. We do not defend what he has done wrong in the past. But we are happy and honored to give him the chance he deserves to show how the MMA can be a vehicle for the rebirth of a person.
For all who would like to see him alone and abandoned by everyone, I only have one word for you: be ashamed of yourself. I believe in Jason Miller. I’ll give this guy his chance.
Right, because we and the state of California have not given Miller enough chances already. The shame…it’s constricting my heart like a boa.
Venator has decided to opt for a less aggressive response this time around, though, writing on their official Facebook page that “Venator FC is aware of the situation involving Jason Miller” and “We take this matter seriously and we will act accordingly once we gather more information.”
“Act accordingly.” Oh, I can see Meranda’s statement now…
“In my eyes, spray-painting a tattoo shop does not make you a criminal. If it did, then Banksy would basicly be Hitler. Everyone knows that there are only two *real* crimes in this world: rape and murder. Jason Miller is not a saint, but he hasn’t committed either of those yet, so I c no reason why he shouldn’t be allowed to fight. In fact, we here at Venator FC our fully prepared to pay Miller’s legal fees, and think that all of you MMA media pussies should just shut the fuck up already and quit your bitching.
