...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Saturday's Strikeforce on CBS event ended on a sour note for the promotion and for MMA on network television, as Jason "Mayhem" Miller interrupted Jake Shields' post fight interview, asking "where's my rematch," and was subsequently attacked by Nick Diaz and others from the Cesar Gracie camp in a wild melee in the cage.
Miller has now issued a formal apology for his role in the embarrassing brawl on CBS, saying on his official website:
"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 [sic], 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.
Jason Mayhem Miller"
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker laid a lot of the blame on Miller at the post-fight press conference for going into the cage in the first place, as he said in the post fight press conference, "I don't know how [Miller] got in there. But when you have the cornermen that Jake has, and something like that happens, you know there's going to be an issue. I don't know why he couldn't have thought that out because I could have told you that prior to them (brawling) that we should have kept them apart. I had no idea that [Miller] was going to do that... I can say this - no one from my staff brought him there."
Penick's Analysis: Miller shouldn't be getting the brunt of the blame for what happened on Saturday night, because even though he had no business going into the cage, spoiling that moment for Shields by asking for a fight he doesn't deserve at this point, he in no way deserved to get jumped by five or six guys.
The Gracie camp should face most of the blame or punishment that comes down for the event, as they were continuously kicking and punching Miller after they had dragged him to the ground. It was a ridiculous and completely embarrassing display from them.
Strikeforce also needs to be held responsible for their part, as there should have been someone to stop Miller from going in there. Coker wasn't in the cage to award the belt to Shields, and Strikeforce officials didn't keep him out. It's unacceptable that they didn't know how Miller got in there, and the only way anyone should have been allowed in to do something like that is if it was leading to a fight the organization would be putting together and it should have been Strikeforce making the call there.
It was a completely avoidable situation that has gotten overblown a bit because of its implications to Strikeforce's and MMA's future on network television and in the eyes of those yet to sanction the sport, but it's good to see Miller own up to his part of the ordeal. I don't know that we'll get anything near the same from the Diaz's or the Gracie camp, let alone Strikeforce.
RELATED STORY: ENNIS BLOG: Post-fight brawl at Strikeforce on CBS showcases lack of control by Strikeforce: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
