Dana White says "Mayhem" Miller's return to the UFC came after being banned from CBS and Showtime

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Jason "Mayhem" Miller's signing with the UFC came after the middleweight was essentially frozen out of the remainder of his Strikeforce contract, UFC President Dana White revealed on Wednesday.

"Mayhem Miller he had a contract with those guys, he wasn't being fought because he couldn't fight on Showtime, he couldn't fight on CBS, so he was in a bad position. So that's why that happened," White said in comments made to MMAWeekly.com.

Miller's banishment from the networks came after his incident at the Strikeforce: Nashville event that aired on CBS last April. After winning a fight earlier in the night, Miller entered the cage following the night's main event between Jake Shields and Dan Henderson, interrupting Shields' post-fight interview with a request for a rematch of their November 2009 fight on CBS.

What resulted was the infamous melee, with Shields' Cesar Gracie teammates Gilbert Melendez and Nick and Nate Diaz, along with others, jumping Miller in the cage while announcer Gus Johnson let the world know that "sometimes these things happen in MMA." The black eye moment was the last time CBS has featured an MMA event, and apparently Miller was held accountable and banned from being on either CBS-owned network, leading to Strikeforce's inability to feature him in a fight before his contract ran out.

"Joe (Silva) wanted him, so he got in here... Mayhem, he's banished from CBS for life. In my opinion, he was a guy that's put into a position," White said. "First of all, we control what happens inside that Octagon, the fighters do not. In our organization, you don't see melees break out and huge fights. You see what happens when somebody does cross the line and do stuff like that.

"I think Mayhem was put in a bad position. I don't know, I haven't talked to Mayhem about this, this is just what I believe and conversations I've had with Joe Silva. I think he was put in there to promote a fight and anyone who would throw Mayhem Miller in there when the Diaz brothers are in there, it's a (expletive) big melting pot for disaster. I don't blame Mayhem for the whole situation."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: If that's legitimately what happened, it's no wonder the fight didn't come together with Miller and Nick Diaz. It was the fight that made a lot of sense at the time because of the Nashville incident, but if Showtime and CBS weren't going to let Miller on their networks Strikeforce's hands were tied. It's ridiculous, because I'm in agreement with White that it was more on whoever allowed him to enter the cage in the first place that the incident happened. Sure he shouldn't have gone in there, but he was in all likelihood instructed by someone to enter the cage, and he was used as the scapegoat in the incident if this was the case. But, now that he's in the UFC he won't need to worry about that any longer, and he'll be able to resume things in his career.

[Dana White art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9177.shtml

Vitor Belfort Randy Couture Chuck Liddell Quinton Jackson

Akiyama-Belfort meet in Philly, middleweight division heating up again

After a short break, the UFC's middleweight division has a ton of good fights falling into place. Today, the UFC announced Yoshihiro Akiyama is back and he'll face Vitor Belfort. Belfort is badly in need of a big win after getting booted in the face and losing to Anderson Silva back in February at UFC 126.

Akiyama and Belfort will square off at UFC 133 in Philadelphia in early August. Akiyama (13-3, 1-2 UFC) last fought in October at UFC 120. "Sexyama" was submitted in the final minutes against Chris Leben. He's lost two straight, but he's also garnered Fight of the Night awards his last three times out.

Here's a look at the rest of the scheduled bouts for 185ers near the top of the UFC's middleweight division.

UFC 130: Brian Stann vs. Jorge Santiago

UFC 131: Demian Maia vs. Mark Munoz

UFC 132: Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben

UFC 134: Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami

We're still waiting for the next shoe to drop on middleweight bad boys Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping. Sonnen has to sit down with the Nevada State Athletic Commission in mid-May. The UFC has been tight-lipped about the actual penalty it handed down to Bisping for his spitting incident at UFC 127. One would think, he'll be back in the Octagon no later than July or August. Alan Belcher recently announced that he's ready to return in September.

The division lost one its bigger names with Nate Marquardt dropping to 170, where he'll debut against Anthony Johnson as the main event at UFC on Versus 4 in Pittsburgh in late June.

Traditionally, middleweight has been one of the promotion's weaker divisions. That could change once Strikeforce fighters like Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Tim Kennedy, Jason Miller and Robbie Lawler start crossing over.

Update:  That didn't take long. Miller has officially signed a deal with the UFC.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Akiyama-Belfort-meet-in-Philly-middleweight-div?urn=mma-wp1395

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Showtime Hits With UFC-Strikeforce Purchase, Misses With In-Cage Action

by Michael David SmithGegard Mousasi and Keith Jardine battled to a draw at Diaz vs. Daley.Saturday night's Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley card was the first major event on Showtime since the UFC purchased Strikeforce, and it was a good opportunity to see how Showtime would handle its MMA broadcasts now that the premium cable channel is in business with a promotion that had previously been a rival.

Overall, I thought Showtime did a solid job of handling the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce. But once it was time for the fighters to step into the cage, the coverage of Saturday night's biggest controversy -- the Gegard Mousasi vs. Keith Jardine draw -- left something to be desired.

Let's start with the good: Showtime handled the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce appropriately by tackling it at the outset. It's a major story that deserved the upfront treatment it got.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/04/10/showtime-hits-with-ufc-strikeforce-purchase-misses-with-in-cage/

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The Rock, Shaq and Other Sports Stars Give Predictions on ?UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields?

At this point in time, every fanboy across the planet has dropped their two cents on Saturday night’s main event between welterweight king Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields. While the sports books claim GSP will cruise to another lopsided victory, there are some professional athletes that believe Shields will shock the world come UFC 129. [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/74658/the-rock-shaq-and-other-sports-stars-give-predictions-on-ufc-129-st-pierre-vs-shields/

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Yves Jabouin 'Feels Blessed' to Make His UFC Debut at Rogers Centre

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TORONTO -- MMA Fighting spoke to Yves Jabouin about his Octagon debut at UFC 129, fighting Pablo Garza, being a part of the growing Tristar Gym team, picking up his first WEC in his last fight, learning from his friend Georges St-Pierre and more.

Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/04/28/yves-jabouin-feels-blessed-to-make-his-debut-at-rogers-centre/

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