From Class Clown to Coach: Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller’s Training Partners Say He’ll Be An Excellent Coach on TUF 14

Everyone expects Jason “Mayhem” Miller to have fun and make Michael Bisping nuts during the 14th season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” but how will the fighters on the show develop under Mayhem’s direction?

When people hear the name Jason “Mayhem” Miller they think of a few specific things.

He’s the over the top host of MTV’s “Bully Beatdown,” he was a participant in the infamous Nashville brawl in Strikeforce, and with a name like Mayhem, there’s no doubt that he’s willing to go the extra mile to have fun and be a little crazy.

Keeping all that in mind, Miller was an obvious choice to coach opposite Michael Bisping for the 14th installment of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which begins filming this week in Las Vegas.

The colorful antics that Mayhem brings with him will surely get under Bisping’s skin and create some good ratings for television, but what about the biggest factor when it comes to the seven fighters that are going to trust in him to get them ready for a shot at the UFC?

Mayhem may be the “clown prince of MMA” outside the cage, but in the training room he’s as serious as they come. According to his training partners at the Reign Training Center, Miller is not only an asset as a training partner, but a great leader for the team.

“He’s been running practices this whole week for me, which is pretty awesome, and it’s going to be good,” Mark Munoz, owner of the Reign Training Center, said about Mayhem.

“He’s a great teacher, and he breaks it down, and that’s the great thing about our gym. Mayhem’s misunderstood because a lot of people see him on “Bully Beatdown” and see him as a vibrant and colorful personality, but at the same time he’s a student of the sport, and he’s been doing it for a long time. He can coach a lot of guys.”

Munoz himself is anticipating a stint on “The Ultimate Fighter” as a wrestling and assistant coach, and while he’s not sure if he’ll be there for the majority of the taping, he definitely plans on stopping by and lending assistance for whatever Mayhem needs.

“It’s a huge, huge opportunity for me too, so we’ve talked about it a few times, but at the same time we want what’s best. It’s not about me, it’s about Mayhem. He’s an awesome coach, he’s got so many skills that he’s developed over the years and he can definitely coach,” Munoz commented.

“I know he’s going to bring me in for sure, so I don’t know if I’m going to be there for the whole six weeks, but I know I’m going to be in there.”

Krzysztof Soszynski, who also teaches alongside Miller at the Reign Training Center, echoes Munoz’s comments about the newest TUF coach. Soszynski says he’s been a major part of Munoz’s fight camp, and has become a true asset to their team.

“He’s actually fantastic,” Soszynski said about Mayhem’s coaching skill. “He’s always traveling around, doing seminars all over North America, he’s also helping Mark (Munoz) get ready for this big fight with Demian Maia. He’s basically been taking over the last week or so, he’s been taking over all the classes and helping Mark get ready for his fight. He’s been studying Demian Maia and helping Mark a lot.

“He’s such a great teacher, great instruction, explains everything really well, I just love training with him.”

A former competitor on “The Ultimate Fighter,” Soszynski had a talk with Miller before he left for the show to impart some advice on the new coach after spending six weeks in the house himself just a couple of years ago.

“The most important thing I told him is just to bring good coaches in. I know there’s a lot of guys who want to coach for him, and he wants to bring a lot of people in, we’re all friends and we’d love to be on the show to help him out. The most important thing is it’s all about the fighters,” said Soszynski.

“Yeah, the show’s going to revolve around him and Bisping, but it’s about developing these young guys. The better coaches they bring in the better fighters these guys are going to become.”

Munoz believes that Mayhem will surprise a great many people with the knowledge he passes on to the next group of up and coming “Ultimate Fighter” hopefuls. It’s not something Mayhem will be pretending to be, he’s just a natural coach at heart.

“That’s just who he is, and it runs through his veins,” Munoz said. “When I’m coaching he’s learning at the same time, when he’s coaching, I’m learning. That’s how it is.”

Mayhem will try to prove that point over the next six weeks as he coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter Season 14.” The show will debut on Spike TV this fall.

Damon Martin is the lead staff writer and radio host for MMAWeekly.com.
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