Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
-- Val
Greg Savage, radio host and reporter: I get the negative reaction to the incident at the end of the “Strikeforce: Nashville” show earlier this month because it showed the sport in a light that quite a few of its detractors would have the uninitiated believe is common.
Add the comments about “testosterone” and post-fight brawls apparently being commonplace from CBS play-by-play man Gus Johnson and you have an instant media nightmare for the promotion.
Was it the worst thing?
Not really, but surely it was not the light you would want your product to be shone under on national television. I really think this will blow over for the most part, but it may catch a few fighters up in its wake.
Strikeforce is expecting Jason "Mayhem" Miller to be sanctioned by the Tennessee commission for instigating the brawl and have pulled him from an expected June 16 main event matchup with Robbie Lawler. Along with the possible suspension, Strikeforce boss Scott Coker reasoned that Miller should not be rewarded for his antics with a headlining bout less than two months later.
Should Miller be reprimanded it would stand to reason that Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez and Nick and Nate Diaz would suffer a similar fate along with other members of Team Cesar Gracie.
As for your assertion that this is common in other sports I have to disagree.
It’s not that they don’t happen, but when they do they get an absurd amount of media play. Baseball and basketball brawls generally bat leadoff on ESPN’s SportsCenter and undue coverage is heaped upon these occurrences just like the Strikeforce dustup.
The difference is those sports are established, while there is a perception that MMA is still in danger of being snuffed out because of a little bad press.
The fiasco in the cage probably did do some short-term damage to the Strikeforce brand -- how could a gang-style jump-in not -- but the sport of MMA is on a much more solid footing than most give it credit for.
I chalk it up to the massive amount of MMA coverage being churned out on a daily basis and the faux outrage that is generated anytime something happens that is even mildly discouraging. It isn’t hard to figure out why so much ink was spilled over this event.