Post main event brawl?

Check.

Ratings down 30%?

Check.

A high priced free agent ready to flee after defeating the high priced free agent that was just signed?

Check.

Ugly and boring fights?

Check.

Highlight of the evening was being uncomfortably close to one of King Mo's dancers without a wad of one dollar bills?

Check.

That looks like the makings of a complete and total disaster,and what do you know? That's exactly what happened on CBS on Saturday night.

The monumental news of the evening was the melee that broke out in the cage after Jake Shields defeated Dan Henderson to retain his middleweight title. Was this hooliganism between Henderson's corner and Shields' teammates? Nope. But it did resemble something straight out of The Warriors.

A surly Jason "Mayhem" Miller snuck into the cage to confront Jake Shields during the post-fight interview. Miller said, "What's up? Where's my rematch buddy?" which seems like an innocent enough question, one that any fighter trying to sell a future fight would ask but this wasn't a normal fight camp.

Miller quickly found out he punk'd the wrong crew, as the entire Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu team converged on "Mayhem" like a pack of velociraptors. From there all mayhem broke out (sorry, I had to use it once). Jake Shields threw a punch as did Nick and Nate Diaz. Someone from Shields corner started curb stomping Miller when he briefly hit the mat and once the fight had been broken up another member of Team "Crazy"Gracie attempted to climb over the cage to chase Miller down but luckily, he was pulled off the cage after reaching the crest.

CBS announcer Gus Johnson tried to diffuse the situation saying, "Gentlemen, we are on national television. Gentlemen! We are on national television!"
I am glad you brought that subject up Gus. This event was on national television and considering the fact that MMA is still striving for mainstream acceptance (a photographer on site not attached to a MMA website told me that this really is human cockfighting) and its checkered past on CBS *cough Kimbo Slice cough,* the instant reaction was, "well, there goes Strikeforce's network television deal."

CBS officials were clearly not happy with how the card ended but they tried to put on their best face. Programming vice president Kelly Kahl told Dave Meltzer that he didn't believe the post-fight brawl would be an issue. And therein lies the double edged sword facing Mixed Martial Arts.

If the brawl is not mainstream news, then what does that say about the cultural relevance of a MMA card without the UFC logo? On the flip side, it's actually better for MMA that the busy sports weekend might result in this unfortunate incident being brushed under the rug. The last thing MMA needs is a Helen Lovejoy, "oh, won't someone please think of the children!" moment.

To a tee, all of the fighters involved were dazed and confused (for the record, that wasn't a Nick Diaz pot joke) with what happened. Heading to the post-fight press conference "Mayhem" Miller was leaning against the wall checking his Twitter account and marveled out loud, "wow, I just got 700 [twitter] replies." When asked about what happened he said it was "funny" though he later apologized on his website.

I would have asked the Diaz brothers about their involvement with the incident but was afraid that a question like "why did you feel the need to kick him in the face?" would be misconstrued as an insult and I like not having a broken nose.

While the brawl became the "it" story Strikeforce's Nashville event wasn't exactly peachy to begin with. Strikeforce's big free agent acquisition, Dan Henderson, lost to Jake Shields. In the first round it looked like Henderson was going to pick up right where he left Michael Bisping, who now becomes a free agent. That sound you're hearing right now, that's Dana White salivating.

Shields and Strikforce CEO, Scott Coker, were both muted on the possible contact negotiations but Jake is a hot commodity in MMA and with Zuffa's deep pockets it would come as no surprise if they swooped in and grabbed him.

The Shinya Aoki - Gilbert Melendez was a painful twenty-five minute affair. Put it this way, once Aoki resorted to butt scooting and Gilbert gave ground you knew you're in for a long night. Melendez won a unanimous decision and retained the Strikeforce lightweight title; though he would end up landing more power punches in the brawl at the end of the night.

For DREAM lightweight champion, Shinya Aoki, the fight represented a battle of national pride for Japan. If the fight were an episode of Pacific it was, well, let's just say that Japan lost World War II and leave it at that.

"King Mo" made his own Strikeforce champion ring in anticipation for his victory over Gegard Mousasi. Lawal must have known that Mousasi went to Josh Neer takedown defense school as "King Mo" spent an exhausting 20 minutes on top of Gegard. Lawal didn't have a choice as the second the fight was standing Mousasi peppered him with punches causing Mo's left eye to swell completely shut. But King Mo was able to shut Gegard down to win the wrestling.

Hands down the highlight of the evening was witnessing "King Mo" Lawal's entrance. The Texas native hired a host of local women from a nearby watering hole to escort him to the cage. One young lady threw rose petals for his majesty to walk on while another woman held an umbrella I assume to block harmful U.V. rays inside the stadium. The rest of the crew danced, and I use that term loosely, along the catwalk to the delight of fans.