Behind The Scenes: The Voice vs. Mayhem

by Michael Schiavello

On Friday July 30, HDNET will premiere the next installment of “The Voice Versus” series when Michael Schiavello goes head-to-head with the host of Bully Beatdown and MMA star Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at shooting this special HDNET presentation.

It’s 11am and I’m clad in an apron, sitting in a high chair at the front of Mark Munoz’s Reign Gym in Lake Forest, California. Ideally this is not how I’d like to be seen. I feel like a Macy’s display in the gym’s front window looking out onto the neighboring offices and car park, but the make up artist Judith insists this is where the light is at its best. Who am I to argue with Judith? She’s made up the faces of some of Hollywood’s elite for the better part of thirty years, including John Cleese, so I figure anyone who can make his face presentable can do wonders with my mug.

There’s a constant flow of gym members coming and going. Every now and then a few will stop, take a second look at me getting my face air-brushed and I’ll hear them whisper, “Is that…that is…the Voice.” I don’t need any blush because my cheeks turn dark red from embarrassment as Judith plucks a rogue hair from between my eyebrows. I’ve never considered myself a television presenter who brings any degree of machismo to the job, but this is emasculation pure and simple.

“So what’s this guy like?” asks Judith, as she tells me to close my eyes and runs the airbrush over my forehead. “Why do they call him Mayhem?”

I giggle. She tells me to stay still.

“What’s so funny?” she asks.

“Oh, you’ll see. You’re about to meet one of the true characters of the fight game,” I say to her.

“With a name like Mayhem he sounds a bit crazy. Is he one of those crazy fighters? Is his nose all mashed up and one eye sits a bit lower than the other? Is he going to want to do his make up here in front of everyone? Is he going to want to do make up at all? Should I be worried?”

I giggle again. She tells me to stay still.

“I don’t think he will have any problem doing make up out here, Judith. His nose isn’t too mashed up and his eyes are aligned just fine. In fact, I think you will fall in love with him. He’s loud, a bit crazy, totally unpredictable but a helluva great guy.”

“You think I’ll fall in love with him? A fighter called Mayhem? Really?”

“I guarantee it,” I assure her. “My girlfriend fell in love with him instantly. He’s a lovable type of guy.”

“And his name is Mayhem?” she asks, looking at me as if I’m taking the piss out of her.

“Indeed,” I grin.

“Well, I trust you then,” she says, sharing my smile. That is until Krystof Soszynski walks past bare chested and drenched in sweat, his torso a canvas of ink.

“He doesn’t look like that, does he?” Judith whispers. “Good God, how would I make him up?”

I laugh out loud. I guess the front of a fight gym is the furthest from the red carpet sixty-something Judith has ever plied her trade.

I finish make up and head into the gym where the crew is setting up an intricate three-camera shoot with half a dozen lights and a dolly. They have fancy names for all the equipment and throw around words like “hot spots”, “lamps”, “cookie” and tell each other to “Hollywood this” and “New York that.” It’s a big step up from the almost guerilla shoot that was The Voice versus Joe Rogan in February, in which we shot with just one camera and one light crammed into my hotel room.

“It looks great,” I tell my HDNet producer, Chris. He’s a go-getter and one of the most enthusiastic and forward-thinking producers I’ve worked with. Last night he delivered an enormous cardboard box to my hotel room full of props I requested for the shoot. They ranged from photos of certain fighters to a series of toys and novelties — including some not entirely legal to carry through airports — to use as visuals for certain questions. As I fished through the box and examined each prop with a cheeky grin, Chris shook his head and simply said, “I don’t know how I’m going to explain all this stuff to accounting.”

It’s just before noon and Mayhem bounces into the room. He’s operating on a level that he always seems to operate on — somewhere between hyper and atomic.

“Quick, hide the props,” I say to Chris, throwing the toys and pictures into a bag. “I don’t want Mayhem to see them until the camera is on him. His reactions have to be spontaneous. When the viewers see the props for the first time that is when Mayhem has to see them for the first time.”

Mayhem greets me with a hug. He’s excited.

“The Voice versus Mayhem, this is so cool. You know I didn’t watch the Rogan special. I heard a lot about it but I didn’t watch it deliberately because I didn’t want to spoil this experience. I don’t know if you’re asking me anything similar but I wanted this to be a unique experience so I’ll watch it afterward because, like, I hear it was freakin’ awesome, but I haven’t watched it yet because I want it all to be a surprise. So what are you gonna ask me? Ha! You can’t tell me that! That wouldn’t be a surprise now would it!”

I usher Mayhem to reception and introduce him to Judith. She sits him in the high chair and places an apron around Mayhem’s neck when Chris enters with a panicked look and calls Judith and myself into the gym.

“We have a slight problem to do with the lighting,” says Chris. “The skylight is causing headaches so we’re going to have to erect a canopy over the two of you. It’s nothing to get alarmed about but we will need some more time.”

“What do you want us to do?” asks Judith.

“Stall,” says Chris. “Just stall Mayhem until we’re ready. We’ve booked the gym for a couple of hours and then the students will start coming in so we’ve got to get through this as quick as we can, but right now we just need you to stall. Is that cool?”

Judith nods. She’s a talker and by the stories she tells I’m betting she’s stalled some of Hollywood’s best and biggest over the years.

“Easy,” she says. “I don’t know much about this Mayhem so I will get to know him. He seems like a cool guy.”

“Told you,” I butt in.

“Oh, this will be so much fun.”

Half an hour later and having undergone what was surely the longest make up session of his life, Mayhem enters the gym where the set is finally lit to perfection. He takes a seat opposite me and plays Angry Birds on his i-phone while his lapel microphone is attached.

“This thing gets so freakin’ hard after a while.”

“Oh man, I love Angry Birds,” I say. “I just got into it.”

“I have been playing for ages,” says Mayhem. “I think I started the Angry Birds craze. Well, I mean, maybe not started it but I think I sure contributed to it. How much time have we got?”

“We’re about to start now,” I say.

“Oh, shit! Well in that case…” he switches off his phone and flings it to the floor.

“Can you hold off the addiction for the next hour?” I ask.

“I think so. How does my make up look?”

“Fine,” I answer. “How is mine?”

“Sexy mate,” he says, feigning an Australian accent. “Man, I tell you what, that make up lady is nice but damn can she talk!”

I glance at Chris and we both smile, trying not to laugh. Mayhem spies the bag of props nearby but its zipped up and he can’t see what’s inside.

“What’s that?” he asks.

“Props,” I grin.

“What props? Nobody told me about props!”
“You will see.”

“Schiavello you’re crazy, man. What the… I mean… I don’t know what to expect. You’re crazy.”

“Takes a crazy man to interview a crazy man,” I say and turn to Chris. “We ready to do this.”

“Cameras?”
“Camera one, hot,” says the first camera operator.

“Two hot,” says the second camera operator.

“Three hot,” says the third.

“We’re rolling. On your queue Michael.”

“You ready?” I ask Mayhem.

“To be interviewed by The Voice? Of course! I think so!”

“The way I see it, we survived a record eight hour long Dynamite broadcast together and kicked some serious ass on it. This will be a walk in the park, right?”

He nods. “This is going to be fun!”

“Let’s do this.”

Over the next 90 minutes we discuss topics ranging from Mayhem’s nomadic childhood to living out of his van; trying his hand at stand-up comedy to landing the hosting role on MTV’s Bully Beatdown and his favorite beatdown moments. We chat about fantasy matches against a number of opponents including Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva and Yoshihiro Akiyama, who it’s decided is simply too sexy for Mayhem to ever fight. I play a game of “knock out, choke out, wedgie or bowl of friend shrimp” and we talk about the infamous Strikeforce Brawl in Nashville which I recreate in unique fashion that takes Mayhem complete by surprise, particularly with my recreation of the Diaz Brothers and Jake Shields.

When Chris gives us the wind up, it’s a shame as Mayhem and I have so much more to talk about.

“That was so much fun,” he says, taking off his microphone. “I can’t believe some of the stuff you pulled out!”

“Oh man, that was so funny. Really good stuff brother, really, really good.”

“I know I’m no Joe Rogan but–”

“You’re Mayhem,” I say and shake his hand. “Wouldn’t want you to be anyone else.”