Mark Jason Miller (born September 17, 1971) is a retired American

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

who competed in the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division. He is also a

published Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Biography and career

Early life

Miller grew up in

Latrobe, Pennsylvania Latrobe ( ) is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,060 as of the 2020 census. A part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, it is located near Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorpo ...

and became involved with

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

through his love of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

and

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. Born in Oklahoma, Norris first gained fame when he won the amateur Middleweight Karate champion title in 1968, which he held for six consecutive years. H ...

films. His father took him to a

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

gym at a young age, and he also practiced

Tang Soo Do Tang Soo Do (; ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean martial art based on karate which can include fighting principles from taekkyeon, subak, as well as northern Chinese martial arts. From its beginnings in 1944 to today, Tang Soo Do is used by ...

Hapkido Hapkido ( , , ), also spelled ''hap ki do'' or ''hapki-do'' is a Korean martial art. It is a hybrid form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, chokeholds, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. ...

, and

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

as a child and teenager. He began competing in

amateur boxing Amateur boxing is the variant of boxing practiced in clubs and associations around the world, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as at the varsity sports, collegiate level. Amateur boxing bouts comprise three ...

at the age of 18. Miller graduated from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

with degrees in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in December 1993. He later began

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

and trained and fought in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Career

Mark Miller made his debut in the

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the worl ...

promotion in August 2000 at ''

K-1 USA Championships 2000 This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a Japanese kickboxing promotion. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993, at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Since its inception, K-1 events were organized by the Fi ...

'', where he lost to Tommy Glanville via unanimous decision, suffering his first loss as a professional. He re-matched with Glanville in May the following year at ''

K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary USA This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a Japanese kickboxing promotion. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993, at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Since its inception, K-1 events were organized by the Fi ...

'', and avenged his loss with a split decision victory. He then took on Dewey Cooper in August 2001 at

K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a Japanese kickboxing promotion. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993, at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Since its inception, K-1 events were organized by the Fig ...

and lost by TKO in the 2nd round. In February 2002, he took part in the Grand Prix at '' K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Preliminary North America'' and lost to Canada's Giuseppe DeNatale in the first round. This was to be his last bout in K-1. In August 2006, Miller was set to compete in a bout for the S-1

promotion in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. However, he failed the Florida Athletic Commission's medical tests due to a heart condition. According to cardiologists, Miller had a 15% cardiac output due to a damaged aortic valve. In September 2007, he had open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve to repair the condition. He made his return to the ring on May 28, 2011 at '' United Glory 14: 2010-2011 World Series Finals'' in

Moscow, Russia Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

against Nikolaj Falin. Miller knocked Falin out with a right hook nine seconds into the first round. Following this match, Miller joined the famous Golden Glory gym in the Netherlands. 10 months later, again in

he faced

Sergei Kharitonov Sergei Valerievich Kharitonov (, ; born August 18, 1980) is a Russian professional boxer, mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. A professional MMA competitor since 2000, Kharitonov has previously fought in Japanese MMA organizati ...

at United Glory 15 in a fight where he gave up 46 pounds. Despite a strong early start, he succumbed to a massive right hand at the end of the first round losing by KO. He faced Koichi Pettas at '' Glory 2: Brussels'' on October 6, 2012 in

Brussels, Belgium Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and lost via KO in the second round. Due to suffering

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

in 2013, this would end up being the final fight of his professional career.

Kickboxing record

, - bgcolor="#ffeaea" , 2012-10-06 , , Loss , , align=left, Koichi Pettas , , Glory 2: Brussels , ,

, , KO (Right Cross) , , 2 , , , - bgcolor="#ffbbbb" , 2012-03-23 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , United Glory 15 , ,

, , KO (Right Hook) , , 1 , , 1:59 , - bgcolor="#eaffea" , 2011-05-28 , , Win , , align=left, Nikolaj Falin , , United Glory 14: 2010-2011 World Series Finals , ,

, , KO (right hook) , , 1 , , 0:09 , - bgcolor="#ffeaea" , 2002-02-09 , , Loss , , align=left, Giuseppe DeNatale , , K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Preliminary North America, Quarter Finals , ,

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Milwaukee is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the 31st-most populous city in the United States and the fifth-most populous city in the Midwest with a population of 57 ...

, , TKO , , 2 , , 2:07 , - bgcolor="#ffeaea" , 2001-08-11 , , Loss , , align=left, Dewey Cooper , ,

, ,

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County, Nevada, Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave De ...

, , TKO , , 2 , , , - bgcolor="#eaffea" , 2001-05-05 , , Win , , align=left, Tommy Glanville , ,

, ,

, , Decision (split) , , 5 , , 3:00 , - bgcolor="#ffeaea" , 2000-08-05 , , Loss , , align=left, Tommy Glanville , ,

, ,

, , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

Personal life

Miller's

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

''Pain Don't Hurt: Fighting Inside and Outside the Ring'' was published in July 2014 by Ecco Press, an imprint of

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

curated by chef and author

Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain ( ; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author and Travel documentary, travel documentarian. He starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the huma ...

. The book, co-written with Miller's girlfriend at the time, Shelby Jones, tells of his origins in a troubled family, heart surgery, struggles with addiction, and his kickboxing career.

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

described the book as "thoughtful but unsentimental" and "a force to be reckoned with". As of 2024, the memoir has a 4.7 out of 5 in reviews on Amazon Books. Miller had successful

kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

and

pancreas The pancreas (plural pancreases, or pancreata) is an Organ (anatomy), organ of the Digestion, digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdominal cavity, abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a ...

transplants Transplant or Transplantation may refer to: Sciences *Transplanting a plant from one location to another *Organ transplantation, moving an organ from one body to another *Transplant thought experiment, an experiment similar to Trolley problem *Tra ...

Cedars-Sinai Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

Hospital in June 2016.

References

External links

Fighters Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Mark 1971 births Living people American male kickboxers Kickboxers from Pennsylvania Heavyweight kickboxers American male Muay Thai practitioners Sportspeople from Pittsburgh Sportspeople from Greensburg, Pennsylvania 20th-century American sportsmen