Love him or loathe him, it's hard to argue that Jason Miller isn't one of mixed martial arts' most marketable fighters. Without a shadow of doubt, Miller is one of the most polarizing figures in the sport today, which is exactly why he's more marketable than 99 percent of all the other combatants who climb into either a cage or ring.

He talks plenty of trash talk before his fights, shimmies and jives en route to his battles, has a red skunk stripe in his hair, wears a platinum toof guard and hams it up to the crowd whenever possible. If someone had never seen Miller fight before and witnessed his goofy antics, they would think that he was a jokester or jester who didn't take his craft seriously.

But anybody who has seen him in action knows that while Miller acts like a fool at times to draw attention to himself, there certainly is no Tom Foolery to be found once that bell rings.

Miller is as entertaining as they come, and when looked at with a more powerful lens, is one of the best at 185 pounds. Naturally he isn't among the top five and doesn't quite deserve a world title fight (i.e. a UFC or PRIDE title shot), but "Mayhem" most definitely has enough talent that, in due time, he will make enough noise and score enough impressive victories to warrant such an opportunity.

Miller's strengths were brought to bear Saturday night in Las Vegas before, during and after his co-main event showdown with Hiromitsu Miura (Pictures). The monkey shenanigans were in full effect as Miller strolled down to the WEC cage sporting a suit and tie, attire that harkened memories of the once-great Roy Jones, Jr. in his ballyhooed rematch with Montell Griffin back in March of 1997.

But once that snazzy outfit was stripped away, it was all business for the Emperor Monkey, who quickly worked Miura's legs with stinging kicks and eventually scored a beauty of a double-leg take down. Miller slithered around his foe and latched on a rear-naked choke, but he was unable to submit the submission savvy Japanese fighter.

Miller again electrified the crowd in the third when he nearly secured the ultra-rare "banana split" submission -- picture a coerced Jean-Claude Van Damme stretch of the groin -- and then rolled into an armbar. Miller tried virtually every submission in his arsenal save for a gogoplata, and even though he was unable to actually submit Miura, Miller made it look fantastic.

The American middleweight is an intriguing study because inside a cage or a ring he is as graceful as a cheetah on the hunt and polished as a brand new BMW. Yet as a person, his personality is as off the wall as a Salvador Dali visions and as crude as an oil well in Oklahoma.

Much of what Miller says is tongue-in-cheek and designed purposefully to elicit a laugh from whomever will listen. But even though he cracks jokes at every turn, he's a serious speaker who is motivated to market himself like no one before him. People who find Miller's dialect and monkey shtick a bit forced could be rubbed the wrong way, but it's hard not to listen to the bloke.

He always possessed enough potential to become one of the sport's biggest draws, but too many behind-the-scenes distractions and some lack of focus have hurt his career to a point. It's still a bit early to know whether or not Miller will live up to his potential, but he seems to be headed in the right direction after joining Team Quest.

Now we'll just have to wait and see if that shiny new BMW is really a yellow 1976 Gremlin in disguise.

Will the UFC's purchase of PRIDE crumble?

Well, I'm not Nostradamus so I can't say for sure, but my guess is that the UFC's purchase of PRIDE will eventually be finalized. I tried like the devil to land a quick interview with UFC president Dana White immediately following Saturday's WEC event, but he flat-out refused to answer any questions.

White knew what I was trying to get at with my interrogation, so he politely declined to say anything except: "I can't do an interview right now. You know I love you, bro, but I seriously can't do an interview right now."

Not much is known as to why the reported purchase of PRIDE hasn't yet been finalized, but a source close to the situation told me that, like any major deal such as this, things take time. There are myriad contracts to look through, mountains of paperwork and dozens, if not hundreds, of autographs to affix to said papers.

My source also claimed that the main reason why it has taken so long to come to fruition is that the Japanese and American business cultures tend to clash.

Other important details couldn't be disclosed and White's refusal to answer a few questions raised some concerns. Is the deal about to fall through or is it really just a difference of business operations?

In due time, we'll all know for certain if PRIDE will actually be run by the suits within Zuffa.

Misc. debris

It was good to see David Loiseau (Pictures) score a win this weekend. He defeated Freddie Espiricueta (Pictures) via arm-triangle, marking his first win in four bouts. Had Loiseau lost to Espiricueta, it might have signaled the end of a once-promising career. But since "The Crow" did triumph, there still is a pulse running through the Canadian's arteries. …

Hopefully WEC contender Johnny Sampaio's knee injury isn't serious enough where it will jeopardize his career. …

Is it me -- and most know I'm a boxing guy originally -- or am I the only one who is sickened to death about how De La Hoya-Mayweather was the fight that saved boxing? My question is: How can you save something that has already committed suicide? One grossly successful fight does not save a sport; a fresh stable of good, marketable De La Hoya-type fighters does. …

I don't know how true this is, but I heard a rumor that Zuffa can't find a suitable opponent for heavyweight title holder Randy Couture (Pictures) for his next fight so they decided to bring in ostracized super heavyweight contender Gabe Ruediger (Pictures). …

I expected Wes Sims (Pictures)' winning streak to continue over the weekend, but it didn't. He was on a tear, scoring seven straight wins mixed in with a No Contest until Chris Guillen (Pictures) beat him. Sims remains one of MMA's wackiest fighters and even though he isn't in the Top 20 as far as the big boys go, he's good to keep around.

Hit me up at www.myspace.com/sherdogsloan