After the disappointment of the UFC 112 main event many were looking forward to Strikeforce: Nashville and it’s three title fights. The fights themselves were above average but at the end of it all we were again left with a bad taste in out mouth. The reason for that we’ll get into a bit later but first things first lets recap the night that was Strikeforce: Nashville.

Light Heavyweight Championship – Gegard Mousasi vs. King Mo Lawal

King Mo took the fight directly to Mousasi scoring takedowns early & often, yet Mousasi seemed to be ok with that.  The fight was mostly Lawal was in top position but at times he was getting beat up from that spot. That’s not to say Lawal didn’t do some damage but with the amount of time on top it should have been more. It seemed to me that Mousasi’s game plan was bad, it looked like he expected Lawal to gas out and then he would finish him. Bad strategy though since Lawal walked away with a Unanimous Decision (49-45 on all three card).

Lightweight Championship – Gilbert Melendez vs. Shinya Aoki

A surprisingly one sided fight really. Melendez controlled nearly every minute of the fight negating every takedown and submission attempt Aoki tried. Melendez punished Aoki from top position pinning him against the cage, something Aoki isn’t used to. Melendez displayed his often unused jiu-jitsu to keep Aoki at bay while mixing in some ground and pound to the submission expert. Melendez wasn’t able to finish off Aoki but the judges gave him every round for the Unanimous Decision (50-45 on all three card). I’d expect to see Melendez vs. Aoki II with in the year under the Dream banner where Aoki can try and even the score.

Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs. Tim Stout

  This fight was actually on the night undercard because of time constrains with having three title fights on the card. Strikeforce had said it would find a way to show the fight in some fashion and they squeezed it in right before the Middleweight title fight. We only got to see roughly 20 seconds of the fight but it was enough to see Miller destroying Stout until the ref stepped in to stop the fight in the first round. Unfortunately it wasn’t the last time we will see Miller…. 

Middleweight Championship – Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson

  The way the fight started out was what many in the MMA world thought would happen, Henderson landing some big shots that would eventually lead to the win. Henderson landed a big shot on two separate points in the first round knocking Shields to the canvas. Showing that champions heart Shields did what he needed to clear his head and survive the round, that was the last time Shields would be in trouble. Maybe showing his age or something Henderson began to fade after having shields in trouble the whole first round. Using his jiu-jitsu Shields was able to get full mount of Henderson countless times and the fight hardly saw the two standing again. Shields dominated rounds 2 – 5 but wasn’t able to finish off Henderson and became the third title fight of the night to go the distance with Shields winning Unanimously (49-46, 49-45, 48-45)

Here is where everthing get crazy….

The Brawl

  During the post fight interview between Gus Johnson and Jake Shields they were interrupted by Jason “Mayhem” Miller asking when does he get a rematch… What happens next can not be easily described and wouldn’t give it justice, so watch it for yourself.

Ratings

The ratings have come out and they do not look good, in fact considering the fight card they were flat out bad. Down from the last CBS card and around a million viewers less then a lead in of NCIS: LA repeat. Here are the half hour breakdowns of the rating:

CBS Strike Force Saturday Night Fights
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 2.57 million (#4), A18-49: 0.8/ 3 (#4)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 2.55 million (#4), A18-49: 1.0/ 3 (#4)
10:00 p.m. – Viewers: 2.89 million (#3), A18-49: 1.2/ 4 (#2)
10:30 p.m. – Viewers: 2.52 million (#3), A18-49: 1.0/ 3 (#2)

Nick Diaz

  A major player in the brawl was Nick Diaz and AOL Fanhouse interviewed him after. Check out Diaz and how many times he keeps looking to his right as if he’s expecting someone to interrupt the interview.

Final Thoughts

Besides the brawl the event was fine but you cannot talk about this event without talking about what happened in the cage at the end of the night. Miller should not have rushed in like he did but the Jake Shields camp also are at fault for pushing Miller thus starting the chaos. It didn’t seem to bother CBS enough for them to edit it out when it replayed on tape delay on the west coast, i guess to them there is no such thing as bad press.

Miller did issue a statement late Sunday on his website regarding the issue.

My Apology to MMA
Written by Mayhem
Monday, 19 April 2010 06:28
I would like to formally apologize to CBS, Strikeforce, and all fans of mixed martial arts for my role in the events following the Strikeforce: Nashville event. In retrospect, my timing could not have been worse to ask for my rematch with Jake Sheilds, and I take full responsibility for entering the cage and setting off a chain of events that cast a dark shadow on the sport. I’ve been a fighter and a fan of MMA for over 12 years, and would never do anything to intentionally tarnish the sport I’ve given my life to. In the excitement of the moment I let my emotions run high and made a bad choice that resulted in a debacle, for that, I sincerely apologize.