Strikeforce Brawl
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcL_y2p_FhE

Jake Shields defended his Strikeforce middleweight title belt on Saturday night, beating UFC veteran Dan Henderson in five rounds, but the fighting did not end when the bell rang.

As Shields was being interviewed for the CBS viewing audience, Jason "Mayhem" Miller interrupted him, asking for a rematch. Shields' teammate, Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, took offense to Miller stealing Shields' big moment, and pushed Miller. Shields and Melendez's teammates got in on the action. Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz and his brother, UFC fighter Nate Diaz, were both seen fighting Miller as CBS announcer Gus Johnson tried to end the fight by yelling, "Gentlemen, we're on national television."

Once the brawl broke up, Shields apologized, saying that this was out of character. Shields is known as a mild-mannered man out of the cage, and as he didn't instigate the melee, he doesn't deserve much of the blame.

But that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of blame to go around. Miller shouldn't have interrupted Shields' as he celebrated defeating one of his heroes in MMA.
Miller, the host of MTV's "Bully Beatdown," looks for the spotlight. He and Shields have a longtime beef with one another, and he shouldn't have been there. But Melendez had no business pushing Miller, and the Diaz brothers definitely had no business punching and kicking Miller while he was on the ground.

MMA is a relatively new and growing sport, and it has had very few chances to be on prime-time, network television. The fighters involved in the melee should be ashamed of themselves, as they have now given every opponent of MMA more reason to hate the sport. Instead of focusing on the gentlemanly way most fighters act after a bout has ended -- shaking hands, congratulating each other and each other's fight teams -- fans new to MMA will remember only that a few fighters couldn't let it drop when the final bell rang.

I dont like how some boxers/fighters are trying to come and approach winners right after a fight. Let them get their shine first and then do what you gotta do. Its disrespectful and not the type of thing which is going to let the sport grow.

While I did enjoy it, it was unneccesary.

That Nate Diaz is outta control and ALWAYS ready to fight. :)

He tackled old boy and then started kicking him too, reminded me of fights when I was in high school!

Great card tho last night!

Dan Henderson almost had it but couldnt finish the fight...

personally i dont see anything wrong w/ what Miller did, it happens all the time. nothing was wrong until Melendez shoved him and thats what started the brawl.

that was definitely the most action that fight card had. all the fights were one sided and boring. Hendo dropping to 185 is bad, he looked slow and gassed after the first round. Mousassi looked like he didnt even care to be there.

really? i dont think we were watching the same card:D
hendo has had plenty of success at 185 in the past(well actually 183) i think age is just starting to catch up with him. he needs to start adding a little variety to his attack cause the top fighters will tear him apart if all he keeps doing is winging his big right hand. and i agree 100% about mousasi. the guy showed no motivation or desire in there. whether he just gassed early or had a mental lapse he did not look good. he still has a ton of potential and he should get back on top soon enough.

i had never seen Mousassi fight until he won the belt from Babalu and he looked amazing in that fight so i was thinkin there could be an explosive finish in that fight but i was waayy wrong.

ive seen people say that this card was better than UFC 112 but there's no way thats true. Silva's antics definitely overshadowed what was a really good card.

I love Dana White's response to the brawl, another bad sign for Strikeforce and CBS (after the whole Kimbo Slize fight and then Elite XC's bankruptcy issues).



-SrD