Strikeforce had a night of surprises on CBS
Strikeforce held its most important fighting event to date on CBS. Three championship fights were contested with the light heavyweight belt exchanging hands.
But it was the melee that happened after a fight that's making headlines. Middleweight champion Jake Shields had just fought veteran Dan Henderson for five rounds. As Shields was being interviewed in the ring by ringside announcer Gus Johnson after, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, who fought earlier on the card, came into the ring and interrupted the interview.
Mller said to the champion Shields, "Where is my, rematch buddy?" Shields pushed Miller away and the fighting began with Shields' entourage swinging punches at Miller. In the middle of the melee was Nick Diaz, who trained with Shields. Diaz, who has the shortest fuse of any fighters in MMA, once fought at the hospital after seeing an opponent he had just fought in the ring.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White twittered a smiley face :) on his twitter account after the brawl. It's just like White to sink to the level of the competition. Jason Miller wrote on his twitter account "whoops," Clearly realizing this was a huge mistake to enter the ring uninvited.
As for the fights, Shields' win over Henderson had one exciting round and that was the first round. Henderson looked as if he would win by knockout over Shields. But, the champion Shields kept his composure and won the next four rounds for a unanimous decision as he retains his Strikeforce middleweight championship. Henderson said on Bleachreport.com, "Thanks to all the fans for tuning in and watching. I had a good round and a half. I got tired for whatever reason, and Jake did a good job."
Shields' training partner and Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Menlendez retain his belt with a five-round unanimous decision over Japan's Dream champion Shinya Aoki.
Aoki is considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in Japan. He said on mmabay.co.uk before the fight, “If I lose this fight, MMA in Japan is over. Japan will become a colony of the USA. He thought the future of Japanese MMA was on his shoulders. And he had to perform well to show the world that Japan has some of the best fighters in MMA. He is the second highly regarded Japanese fighter to fight in America in the last month. Japan's veteran Takanori Gomi loss to American Kenny Florian in Charlotte, N.C., in last month's UFC card on Strike TV.
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal was a huge underdog to the champion Gegard Mousasi for the light heavyweight title. Lawal has just six professional MMA fights compared to 31 fights for Mousasi. At the end of the fight you would have thought Mousasi had won, because Lawal's left eye had swollen shut and his face was heavily bruised. But fights aren't won on appearances. Lawal won 49-46 as he displayed a masterful ground-and-pound game to win four of the five rounds.
Other fights on the card, but not televised on CBS: Ovince St. Preux won by TKO on Chris Hawk, Andy Uhrich won by submission (rear-naked choke) over Dustin West, Jason "Mayhem" Miller won by TKO over Tim Stout, Cale Yarbrough won by TKO over Josh Schockman, Zach Underwood won by decision over Hunter Worsham, Dustin Ortiz won by submission (rear-naked choke) over Justin Pennington and Cody Floyd won by KO (knee) over Thomas Campell.
Who is at fault in the Jason Miller brawl? Strikeforce security, Jake Shields' corner, Miller or someone else? Give me your take.
Kevin Richardson has been a fan of mixed martial arts competition ever since UFC 3, when 600-pound sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough was beaten by Keith Hackney. Kevin will cover the world of MMA — in Baltimore, nationally and internationally. He plans to take readers into the locker rooms and MMA schools, where they'll hear from local fighters and trainers. If you have a news tip or suggestions for the blog, please 
Comments
Why is anyone upset? Aren't brawls good for business? Every league needs that one guy that you always know is going to do something to make it all interesting (Tito Ortiz). Consider that brawl to be a promo for Shields vs Mayhem II
Posted by: matthew | April 18, 2010 10:53 AM
I blame shields corner. The Diaz bros and Melendez clearly showed they still have that ghetto mentality they grew up with. These are the same losers who for years took an art they learned and used it to go out and pick fights with people in a bully like mentality. I'd fight any one of those losers any day of the week and would destroy them in a street brawl any day. I live not far from these idiots and none of them have taken me up on my offer. However we have seen the same thing Miller did after many other MMA fights and none ever escalated like this. Why, because in every other instance those fighters conducted themselves professionally. Hopefully Strikeforce realizes that and gets rid of the ghetto cancer that the Diaz bros and Melendez are.
Posted by: Greg | April 18, 2010 11:05 AM
Somewhere, wherever he may be… Dana White is laughing, and when I say that, I mean his abs are probably starting to hurt. Yeah, ‘any publicity is good publicity’ but having this happen on CBS national television was a complete mockery of StrikeForce and will just allow the UFC to excel even more… if you missed the fight, check it out at http://www.lionsdenu.com/mma-strikeforce-post-fight-brawl-mayhem-millerjosh-shields/
Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dan Henderson come back to the UFC after that joke
Posted by: Tim PIlgram | April 18, 2010 11:44 AM
Jake is at fault. Yes Jason should not have gone out there at that time (Jason is insane thought) but Jake did not have to push him. I am sure Miller would have had no problem standing there if they ignored him. He is in his own world anyway. Shields side over reacted. Go Mayhem! Red Dragons!!
Posted by: Christoph | April 18, 2010 11:47 AM
I think jason miller is at fault. Why was he even let in the ring? As soon as he got in there you could tell he was starting crap. Jason miller is a showboat and wants the publicity. I think jason got what he deserved.
Posted by: bert carner | April 18, 2010 12:27 PM
Come on guys, it was awesome watching them fight
Kobe,
I agree...it was the best fight of the night.
-Kevin
Posted by: kobe | April 18, 2010 12:47 PM
It was STAGED...poorly at that. Additionally...I think Henderson was paid to throw the fight...The whole broadcast was a joke.
Posted by: Mr.Slickfish | April 18, 2010 5:46 PM
Wouldn't it have been easier (and cheaper) for CBS to instigate a LA gang scrap and televise that instead?
Posted by: qwkinuf | April 18, 2010 6:12 PM
Strikeforce lets a hundred people into the ring after a fight. They are asking for issues. The promotion is a joke and the fighters are below UFC standards. I hope CBS drops the whole show. MMA has had to "fight" to get mainstream and a brawl like that makes it look exactly the way detractors have always portrayed it. I blame Strikeforce for not policing their own ring... but maybe they needed the publicity.
Posted by: FP | April 18, 2010 7:33 PM
Strikeforce fights last night were horribly boring... that brawl was the only action that ring saw! And why the cheap shot at Dana White, Kevin?
Jeff,
Because Dana White takes cheap shots at everyone else. This is a quote from Dana after Strikeforce signed Hershel Walker. From MMAfighting.com, "Strikeforce is a small, little, regional show," White said. "The geniuses over at Showtime, these guys are the most arrogant, cocky, pompous jackasses I've ever met in my whole life."
Noting that Walker has no experience as a fighter, White questioned whether a suitable opponent could be found for him, and he questioned whether the fight would be sanctioned at all.
"Which athletic commission is going to let this guy fight?" White asked. "Who the f**k are they going to find to fight Herschel Walker? A guy in a wheelchair?"
He takes a shot at Showtime, Strikeforce and Hershel Walker and know one calls him out on it. :)
-Kevin
Posted by: Jeff | April 18, 2010 10:42 PM
Maybe no one calls him out because he's right...
Walker is a 40+ retired football player who they hired to sell tickets.
Dana White is no worse than Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban, the Steinbrenners, etc etc etc. You hate them when you're not a fan of their team, but you love them when you are because they'll do anything in their power to make their product the best.
Posted by: Hans | April 19, 2010 6:49 AM
There's is plenty of blame to go around.
1. Strikeforce for not securing the cage
2. Jason for bad timing at the very least, and for pulling a Kanye at worst (Love you, MayheM, but even you know you goofed)
3. Shields for the first shove
4. Melendez for the second - unprovoked - shove (at this point Jason had taken Shields's shove and made NO MOVE to retaliate)
5. The Diaz brothers for being: the Diaz brothers
6. Gus Johnson and the brain trusts at CBS for having no clue what they were talking about - during the whole fight
IMNSHO: if not for Jason Miller (who, let's face it, set this ball rolling) there would be very little discussion of Saturday's snoozefest of fights.
Tripoli,
Well said.
-Kevin
Posted by: tripoli | April 19, 2010 12:51 PM
how did he pull it off? WHAT!!?
Posted by: poohbear | May 15, 2010 9:46 PM
This is why I prefer the UFC
Posted by: Aaron Stewart | July 28, 2010 8:31 AM
Sorry I still prefer the UFC - the other venues just don't stack up IMHO.
Posted by: MMAMan | August 23, 2010 9:15 PM
Dana White has made the UFC and he's a very funny sort of guy,.
Alot of his critics are just plain jealous!
Give the guy some credit.
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Posted by: MARIAGE | March 10, 2011 12:44 AM
After all UFC bought strike force, Now danna has an excellent exhibitor on an important national TV for his shows...a great move!
Posted by: frases amor | April 16, 2011 11:37 AM
Looking forward to seeing Shields take on GSP tomorrow. It will be GSP's toughest test in a long while. I can't see Shields getting the takedown. Except GSP to get the UD.
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