Cesar Gracie, the leader of a trio of Strikeforce champions, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields and Nick Diaz, issued an apology Monday for his team's brawl with Jason "Mayhem" Miller at the conclusion of Saturday's Strikeforce: Nashville main event."That night in Nashville was emotionally charged and I wish cooler heads would (have) had prevailed," Gracie said on GracieFighter.com. "I think it would be better if we fight in a professional manner and not in free-for-alls. For the disruption it has caused we are sorry and would like to extend an apology."
Gracie felt the brawl overshadowed defining moments in the careers of two of his fighters.
"Unfortunately the after fight skirmish shifted the focus away from what was probably Jake and Gil's biggest wins and that was very disappointing," Gracie said. "We're a very tight team and in all the years we've hung out together there has never been a team street fight or anything like that associated with us."
While the Diaz brothers did not appear to have instigated this brawl, the two are no strangers to post-fight main event dramas. Less than two years ago, an EliteXC card on Showtime closed with a confrontation between the brothers and KJ Noons. During that event in Hawaii, Diaz entered the cage following Noon's successful title defense to challenge Noons to a rematch. Words were traded before the hostility escalated to the point where security members were forced to intervene.
Besides that, there's also Nick's infamous hospital altercation with Joe Riggs.
Gracie, who admitted that both sides were to blame after reviewing the tape, said he has spoken to his team as well as Strikeforce to avoid melees like this in the future.
The Tennessee athletic commission is currently investigating the brawl.
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