Mixed Martial Arts Career
After his submission win over Ronald Jhun, a riot broke out and Miller was punched in the back of the head by a fellow fighter, Mark Moreno. This set the stage for a grudge match, and Miller dominated Moreno, finishing him with an armbar at the end of round one making the shaka sign before finishing him.
On September 2, 2006, Mayhem won the Icon Sport Middleweight title from Robbie Lawler by arm triangle in the third round. In December of the same year, Mayhem lost his first title defense to Frank Trigg via TKO in the second round, a fight many thought he was the favorite to win.
He was eliminated by Ronaldo Souza at Dream 4 in the quarterfinalis of the tournament. Miller lost by unanimous decision to Souza in a bout that saw him defend submissions for the majority of the time.
Miller and Souza fought again, but this time for the Dream Middleweight belt. (the title was vacant as Gegard Mousasi moved to the Light Heavyweight division). The fight ended in a no-contest when Miller unintentionally landed a soccer kick (an illegal strike in Dream) to Souza's forehead, which opened a large gash and prompted a doctor stoppage. Both fighters agreed to face each other in an event in September 2009. The future of this rematch became uncertain as Souza later signed with the Strikeforce promotion.
Miller fought Jake Shields on November 7, 2009 on CBS as a part of Strikeforce: Fedor vs Rogers. The fight was for Strikeforce's Middleweight title as Cung Le stepped down as champion to pursue his acting career. In what was mostly a grappling match that saw Shields hold Miller down for 5 rounds Miller lost via unanimous decision. The closest the match came to ending was in the third round when Miller secured a rear naked choke on Shields, but time ended before Shields tapped out. Miller also contracted staph infection from Shields after the fight.
Miller faced Tim Stout at Strikeforce: Nashville on April 17, 2010 and won the fight by TKO in the first round.
Miller was expected to face Robbie Lawler on June 16, 2010 at Strikeforce: Los Angeles, but was removed from the card after his actions at Strikeforce: Nashville where he confronted Jake Shields for a rematch after Shields' win over UFC veteran and former Pride FC Welterweight and Middlweight Champion Dan Henderson.
Although there was suspicion that Miller would fight Nick Diaz in October, the bout failed to come into fruition. Mayhem instead fought Kazushi Sakuraba on September 25, at Dream 16. In pre-fight interviews, Mayhem stated that he wished to be one of the only people to submit Sakuraba, "the Gracies couldn't do it, I want to". He would go on to do just that, and win the fight via arm triangle choke.
Miller was expected to face Tim Kennedy again on March 5, 2011 at Strikeforce 32. However, the bout was scrapped. On April 22, 2011, Miller announced via Twitter that he had signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC due to his Strikeforce contract expiring.
Read more about this topic: Jason Miller (fighter)
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