MTV's "Bully Beatdown" starring Jason "Mayhem" Miller has been a surprise smash hit, and a serious guilty pleasure among serious MMA fans over the last few weeks. As if the poorly-crafted canned lines (seemingly read right off a cue card) weren't obvious enough, MMA TKO is now reporting that MTV hired professional stuntmen to pose as the "bullies" on the show, and in most cases, the "bullies" had never met their "victims" prior to the show:

I spoke with a friend that helped with the production of the show and was told that most of the bully/victim combo had never even met prior to the taping of each episode

Take bully Jon from the last episode with Jake Shields. Last year he was on the Fox TV show Battle of the Bods where Jonathan proclaimed to be a professional stuntman as he judged the bodies of young women.

Even though Bully Beatdown is filled with actors the fights are mostly real. The stuntmen do try to fight back against the Pro MMA fighters but their payday comes not from the 10,000 prize money offered up but from the money guaranteed on the contract they signed going into the fight.
Update: I have been asked for proof that any of these guys are actors. Well here you go:
Ryan Adam Kessman : one of the fighters IMDb Resume. Lists his background Performance Skills: Martial Arts, Stunts. He was even on My name is Earl.


This is an interesting revelation, but it's certainly not the most surprising or earth-shattering bit of news, especially given the scripted nature of many of MTV's "reality" shows such as "The Hills" and various dating shows. Whether or not these guys really are bullies is pretty inconsequential, as they're still apparently actually fighting the MMA fighters. However, bringing in professional stuntmen certainly gives the "bullies" more of an advantage in the fights, and if MTV had used average joes, the beatdowns would probably be much more severe.