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[Sakara=Excitement]

Cesar Gracie says reaction to "Strikeforce: Nashville" brawl is overblown, hypocritical | MMAjunkie.com

Cesar Gracie is of two minds regarding the post-fight melee this past Saturday at "Strikeforce: Nashville" that involved four of his top athletes.

He is aware such incidents are not positive for the sport. But he also thinks the reaction to it is far overblown.

"My biggest problem with what happened is that it distracted from the fights," Gracie told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) on Sunday. "(We) just saw two of my very best guys have masterful performances – tactically, physically and everything – and people are talking about the post-fight fight that should have never happened."

Two of Gracie's top students, Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez, defended their respective middleweight and lightweight titles on the CBS-televised fight card. Trouble started after Shields defeated Dan Henderson when middleweight Jason "Mayhem" Miller marched into the cage and demanded a rematch. Shields shoved Miller and triggered an in-cage fight that involved nearly all the Gracie team members who were present, including Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz, who weren't even fighting that night. Melendez also participated.

Immediately after the incident, Shields apologized, and Melendez, Nick Diaz and Miller later made apologies to Strikeforce officials and the public.

Gracie, who watched the Strikeforce event but did not attend, said he had spoken to his team since the incident.

"I told them that this distracts from the real fights," he said. "It doesn't help anybody. Nobody's getting paid for fighting after the fight. It makes crybabies come out there and talk about it more, and then we have to do interviews talking about crybabies."

Immediately after Saturday's event, fans lit up Internet message boards in outrage over the incident.

Gracie said the "crybabies" are part of a double standard between MMA and other sports.

"I went to a hockey game, a (San Jose) Sharks game last week; there were three fights where the teams were fighting each other," he said. "That was at a hockey game where there are supposed to be no fights.

"So a fight broke out at a fight. That's not a good thing, and I'm not condoning it ... but a lot of people are jumping on this because they're babies. The same night, they had an NBA fight. They want to talk about a fight at an MMA fight between MMA fighters."

Gracie disagreed with fans and pundits who said the incident could turn public perception against MMA.

"How would it be damaging?" he said. "If you're a sports fan, you're used to seeing fights all the time. It's really, seriously, a bunch of pussies latching on to this and trying to make it a bigger deal than it is. Is it a good thing? It's not a good thing. We're sorry. Everybody involved has apologized.

"But you've got a lot of crybabies that are going to latch on to this to the bitter end, but they're not going to say anything when a hockey game has fights every night. Young sport, old sport – people are making a much bigger deal than this. It's hype; it's all hype."

Gracie said Shields could have handled the post-fight incursion by dissing Miller, the star of MTV's reality show, "Bully Beatdown."

"'Who are you again? I just beat Dan Henderson. Your fight wasn't even telecast,'" Gracie said. "That would have been the professional way to handle that, not pushing the guy, not throwing punches when he came flying back at my guys. It wasn't the smart way to handle it. It was the emotional way to handle it."

On Sunday, Gracie apologized to Jeffrey Mullen, the director of the Tennessee Athletic Commission, as well as Strikeforce officials. He said no immediate sanctions have been placed on his fighters.

Today, Mullen told MMAjunkie.com that an investigation has been opened into the April 17 melee.

UFC president Dana White today blasted Showtime, Strikeforce's broadcast partner, for their handling of the matter. He said he spoke to Nate Diaz, though he did not disclose the nature of the conversation, and said the UFC has no plans to discipline the fighter.

Gracie hopes the incident's fallout will steer the sport in a more positive direction.

"Let the dust settle a little bit," he said. "This stuff happens. Let's grow from it and not do it again."

[Pasha K]

I think that people are very used to see fights in Football, Hockey etc., but there are still many many new fans to MMA, and when they see a fight like that they begin to think that MMA is not a sport, that its just a brawl between savages inside a cage.

You cant compare Hockey with MMA, MMA is still a very new sport. And people wont react in the same manner if they see a mele in Hockey than if they see a mele in MMA.

[deathloc]

hockey? is he serious? lol

[Sakara=Excitement]

And still. Mayhem is the only person to say sorry.

And why the hell does everyone use Hockey as an example? Hockey is as much about fighting as MMA is whether we like it or not. You see fighting in hockey but you also see fighting in FREAKIN' MMA! But what you DONT SEE is fighting in post fight interviews in hockey or any other mainstream sport.

[beau420]

Originally Posted by Sakara=Excitement

And still. Mayhem is the only person to say sorry.

And why the hell does everyone use Hockey as an example? Hockey is as much about fighting as MMA is whether we like it or not. You see fighting in hockey but you also see fighting in FREAKIN' MMA! But what you DONT SEE is fighting in post fight interviews in hockey or any other mainstream sport.

Nick apologized in the interview from Fanhouse. It was also noted that Melendez went to CBS executives and apologized.

In hockey we have seen coaches freak out, get in near scuffles with reporters and referees. There have been tons of fights at the end of periods and some fights after the third period when the game is officially over.

But I agree. It is blown out of proportion. It has happened dozens of times before in other events at other organizations.

In the nineties, it happened about 2 or 3 times a year in boxing.

I think it is because MMA is trying so hard not to be about brawls and in ring antics....more about respect for your opponent and to the fans. The fact is that some fighters really have problems and might not pass a psych test....I am looking at the Diaz brothers and Mayhem.

Baseball usually has a couple fights a year.

I was glad that the fight was broken up pretty quickly and no one appears too injured (Mayhem ear possibly bloodied and Nick Diaz has a knot on his head)

Just move on, and have someone guarding the cage door and not let anyone in the cage unless okayed or planned.

LOL....as I was writing this I was watching CNN....and they just showed the post fight brawl on Rick Sanchez....you can't top that type of media exposure....they never show UFC event stuff on CNN....maybe for UFC 100 they did....but can't remember the last time I saw any MMA stuff on CNN

[Sakara=Excitement]

Originally Posted by beau420

Nick apologized in the interview from Fanhouse. It was also noted that Melendez went to CBS executives and apologized.

In hockey we have seen coaches freak out, get in near scuffles with reporters and referees. There have been tons of fights at the end of periods and some fights after the third period when the game is officially over.

But I agree. It is blown out of proportion. It has happened dozens of times before in other events at other organizations.

In the nineties, it happened about 2 or 3 times a year in boxing.

I think it is because MMA is trying so hard not to be about brawls and in ring antics....more about respect for your opponent and to the fans. The fact is that some fighters really have problems and might not pass a psych test....I am looking at the Diaz brothers and Mayhem.

Baseball usually has a couple fights a year.

I was glad that the fight was broken up pretty quickly and no one appears too injured (Mayhem ear possibly bloodied and Nick Diaz has a knot on his head)

Just move on, and have someone guarding the cage door and not let anyone in the cage unless okayed or planned.

LOL....as I was writing this I was watching CNN....and they just showed the post fight brawl on Rick Sanchez....you can't top that type of media exposure....they never show UFC event stuff on CNN....maybe for UFC 100 they did....but can't remember the last time I saw any MMA stuff on CNN

I really wouldn't call what Nick did apologizing, lol. And I did read Gilbert did apologize but what I meant was formally...and sounding sincere.

[Inventor]

I kind of agree with Gracie. It's way overblown, just like everything else in the news. I'm not condoning it either, but it is overblown.

[willpunisher]

people still watch hockey?
its been overblown and everyone is pissed cuz mma is still new and lots of people don't like it. the old school people, boxers and those people in NY specially.
i dont think mayhem is the one to say sorry. he got in the cage just like rashad did on rampage and gsp on hughes. mayhem got jumped by all those guys. u look at the video again and there is some big dude standing next to him and kicking him in the head or shoulder 3-4 times.
but than again this is not the first time mayhem has done something like this.. he pulled this shit before in DREAM against Jacare.
my question is.. will everyone involved be punished or suspended somehow?

[Rumble]

Hockey and basketball are established sports and hockey is known for it's fights. Comparing the kind of fights that happen at those sports and the kind of brawl that broke out at SF are not the same. The thing that really bugs me is that it wasn't just a post fight scuffle between two fighters, Mayhem got jumped on TV. First of all I think jumping someone is a cowardly thing in itself, but to be jumped by a bunch of professional fighters is outrageous. There's no need for that. I like seeing altercations and shit talking as much as the next guy. But seeing someone get jumped is a whole different thing. But after hearing Cesar Gracie calling everyone pussies and crybabies I guess I can see the mentality that he teaches over at his camp.

[noahm]

Generally, in other sports, a fight breaks out because somebody got physically hit by a ball/harmed/knocked down/tripped etc. in a way that was unexpected and thus the reactionary result. These guys (MMA) are used to physical assault, know how to act and react, and yet this whole thing was essentially about disrespect, not a physical incident.

Overblown? Maybe, but it is still 100% wrong and it does reflect poorly on MMA, which has been one of the major uphill battles all along with getting the sport legitmized.

And Cesar Gracie just dropped a few notches in my book for pretty much disrespecting MMA fans in general-at least the ones who though the brawl was out of line.