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... And there goes Strikeforce's CBS deal. Regardless of how big or small the ratings were for tonight's event, I think that Strikeforce's CBS deal is kaput. I don't think they're going to continue to air MMA after the garbage that took place following the main event.

Jason Miller went into the ring and did something that we have seen done by countless fighters on countless occasions after major fights: He asked about a potential upcoming match-up (and in this case, he did so with a smile on his face).

The problems started with the reaction to Miller's question. If you slo-mo the instant replay (the one that aired when CBS came back from the commercial break), you can see that Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields both shoved Miller at about the same time.

What elevated it from a shove or a "scuffle" into an actual brawl was when punches were thrown, and if you slo-mo the instant replay (again, the one that aired when CBS came back from the commercial break), you can clearly see that Shields landed the first punch, as his red MMA glove connects with the side of Miller's head.

At that point, the trashy-as-usual Diaz brothers jumped in and turned it into a full-fledged brawl, as they threw numerous punches, even after security intervened. The same goes for a large man in a t-shirt who also appeared to be part of Shields' camp.

In any case, the Cesar Gracie camp used to hold the distinction of being home to the trashiest brothers in MMA, the Diaz brothers, who have instigated major incidents on multiple occasions. After the actions tonight of Shields, Melendez, Nick Diaz, and Nate Diaz, they have now comfortably secured the position of "trashiest all-around MMA team." Congratulations, guys.

There's a reason that when similar "scuffles" happen in the NBA (like the one on this very night during the Celtics-Heat game), actual punches are usually not thrown: It's because throwing a punch on the court before, during, or after an NBA game results in an automatic suspension.

If Tennessee's athletic commission allows this B.S. to happen without handing out disciplinary suspensions to Melendez, Shields, Nick Diaz, and Nate Diaz, then their handling of the situation would be just as much of a joke as the way that the Florida commission "handled" StandGate (with their non-investigative investigation), or the way that the Nevada commission "handled" GreaseGate (with their "this is not a hearing" hearings).

At the very least, even if they drop the ball on suspending those four fighters, I can't imagine any athletic commission being able to justify giving a cornerman's license to Melendez, Nick Diaz, or Nate Diaz in the future, especially in the case of the Diaz brothers, since this was the second time they were involved in a disgraceful post-fight brawl.

Four other things from tonight's event were also disappointing:

-The decision by Strikeforce and CBS to replay the beginning of the brawl was disgusting in its own right. Shame on whoever made that call.

-Gus Johnson made a bad scene look even worse when he said something to the effect of, "Things like this happen in MMA!" Off the top of my head, I can think of two other times that something like this has ever happened in MMA: Tank/Cabbage in the UFC, and Diaz/Noons in EliteXC. "Things like this happen" a lot more often in the NFL, and even in the NBA and MLB.

-Mario Yamasaki continued to demonstrate why he's the worst referee in MMA this side of Jason "It Would Have Been a Late Stoppage Dozens of Punches Ago" Herzog, as Yamasaki apparently didn't even know the rules under which tonight's bouts were being fought. Early in the first round of the Gilbert Melendez vs. Shinya Aoki fight, Melendez landed several elbows to the head on the ground, which are illegal in Strikeforce. This would be news to Yamasaki, who didn't call the elbows as fouls or even issue a verbal warning. Fortunately for Yamasaki, those elbows did not lead to the end of the fight, and I'd imagine that 95% of the people who saw that fight have already forgotten about those elbows, but that doesn't change the fact that Yamasaki failed yet again do his job properly. (Remember Yamasaki's actions during the Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson fight?) It used to be that Yamasaki was a bad referee purely because of his often dangerously late stoppages, but now he's adding new reasons to the list.

-Wow, the EA Sports MMA game looked awful in the pre-fight "Keys to Victory" segments. How did animations that choppy even get into the game in the first place? I'm guessing that EA Tiburon's response would be that they still have months of development time left to polish the game, but as with any game, they shouldn't be showing it off yet if it's not ready to be shown off.

Update on 4/19/10:
Clearly, some of Team Cesar Gracie’s trashiness comes from Cesar Gracie himself, based on the quotes from Cesar Gracie in this article.

Remember, Cesar Gracie is also the same guy who said that he had a "secret deal" in place with former California State Athletic Commission director Armando Garcia so that Nick Diaz would still be able to use his marijuana. Cesar Gracie is also the same guy who said that he had a deal in place with Armando Garcia to keep his own positive drug test for marijuana a secret (as in, Cesar Gracie's positive test when he fought Frank Shamrock). There's a history of unprofessional behavior.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 1:22 AM

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