By Bryanna Fissori
Professional MMA fighter and host of the MTV reality show “Bully Beatdown,” Jason “Mayhem” Miller (24-7-0) was arrested earlier this month for his own alleged bullying. On August 7, Miller was arrested in Chatham County, North Carolina after a complaint was filed by his own sister. The fighter was charged with simple assault and false imprisonment.
The alleged incident occurred at a house party in North Carolina that night attended by both Miller and his sister. He supposedly placed his sister in a headlock to prevent her from leaving the party when she stated she wanted to go. Upon release she contacted the authorities. He was released on a $5,000 bond and scheduled for a hearing on the charges.
Miller has had two fights under the Strikeforce promotion which is under the same ownership as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The fighter lost to Jake Sheilds in a unanimous decision and beat Tim Stout by first round TKO. Miller signed on with the UFC in this spring after his Strikeforce contract expired. He will be coaching on the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show on Spike. The finale of the show will air at the end of the year which is when Miller will face-off in his first UFC bout against veteran UFC fighter Michael Bisping.
Bisping’s response to the arrest of his opponent came via twitter and he stated, “So Miller gets nicked for getting his sister in a headlock, but she escapes. Two things, that’s gay and I guess I don’t worry about guillotines.”
The arrest is not speculated to affect his UFC career as of yet though it is a sore spot for the UFC which just signed a deal with FOX TV network. The deal was a big step for the sport of mixed martial arts which is still controversial to many audiences. The UFC is under increased pressure to maintain a clean image in order to appeal to a more mainstream, household television fan base. Fox will also air subsequent seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter” after the expiration of the deal with Spike.
Under the letter of the law, the alleged action by Miller does appear to meet the elements of both charges. False imprisonment is the restraint of a person’s liberty of movement by another party who lacks the legal authority or justification to do so. Placing someone in a headlock and preventing them from exercising freedom of movement (or freedom to leave the party) satisfies the requirement for the cause of action.
In North Carolina simple assault is a class 2 misdemeanor. Someone who commits an unlawful touching of another, or who engages in a “show of violence,” is guilty of a simple assault. The headlock will constitute and unlawful touching. Remedies for the causes of action are likely to be monetary though it is unlikely that Miller’s sister sustained any actual damages from the incident. There has been no release of information regarding any medical issues attributed to the headlock.