Strikeforce Brawl: Really That Serious?

Despite the great scheduled bouts at Strikeforce Nashville, the most notable fists being thrown throughout the evening landed after the bell. 

The event was filled with great MMA fights—a new light heavyweight champion in King Mo Lawal, and Gilbert Melendez showed that he is one of the best lightweight MMA fighters in the world after dissecting Dream champion Shinya Aoki in dominating fashion. Jake Shields also put doubters to rest after dominating Dan Henderson to retain the Strikeforce middleweight championship.

However, the trending topic is the Strikeforce brawl that occurred after the middleweight bout between Shields and Henderson.

During the post-fight interview while Shields was talking with CBS correspondent Gus Johnson, an unexpected and uninvited Jason "Mayhem" Miller attempted to steal the spotlight away in what appeared to be an attempted Shields versus Mayhem Miller II pre-fight hype gone terribly wrong.

Although Miller was out of line going into the ring, he did not deserve to get jumped by Team Cesar Gracie which included brothers Nick and Nate Diaz. The photo above was posted on NathanDiaz.com, which probably isn't the smartest photo in the world to post considering it provides clear evidence to exactly who threw the punches, but you never know I guess.

The Strikeforce brawl did come at a bad time due to the fact the event was being broadcast on CBS, however in fight sports these “hype building” confrontations-turned-brawls happen all the time; just check out this SportsCenter Top 10 press conference brawls. Fights happen all the time in sports, a fight even broke out on Saturday during the Boston Celtics versus Miami Heat game when Kevin Garnett came to the aid of a downed teammate.

Testosterone is high after a fight and when a fighter (and his team mates for that matter) feel disrespected, especially after a celebration, then emotions tend to trump reason. None of this is an excuse for what happened, but looking at the Strikeforce brawl in hindsight it may not have been as serious as it is being assessed. There should be sanctions and reprimands for each of the MMA fighters involved including UFC fighter Nate Diaz.