Video courtesy ShootMedia)
It’s amazing how perception works.
Nick Diaz is convinced that he and his Team Cesar Gracie teammates were attacked by Jason "Mayhem" Miller and his Team Quest teammates following Jake Shields‘ win over Dan Henderson at Strikeforce’s Nashville show in April and he says that by "fighting back" they were merely defending themselves.
"I’m the last person who wants to take a punch from somebody and I don’t know who out there wants to hit me. All I know is this guy…Gilbert pushes him back and he runs at us and we’re fighting now. You want me to be the victim here and just let my boy get punched, or me? We’re on one team."
Maybe he and his brother should have gotten their stories straight before being filmed telling their decidedly different points of view.
Nate defended his camp’s actions, but admitted that they were the first to strike after Mayhem stepped up to his teammate Jake Shields.
"As far as I was concerned, we weren’t jumping [Miller]. Everybody was like, ‘You jumped him. You Jumped him.’ As far as I was concerned, you got in my boy’s face and we were fighting you. I don’t care who was fighting you. You shouldn’t have done that. It’s not my fault his boys weren’t helping him or whatever; the fag should have known better and whoever don’t like it, that’s their bad, you know? What the hell would they do?"
Their coach Cesar Gracie says that the likely punishments his fighters may receive are unjustified and that everybody should just move in and "learn" from the incident, which would be a viable option if this was the first time the Diaz duo were involved in a post-fight fracas.
"Guys are guys and unfortunately it’s going to happen. You reprimand the guys and hopefully everybody learns from it, but let’s not make it a bigger issue than it is. I think we’ll live."
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commentsFair enough. I agree that one or two isolated incidents won't stop the momentum that the sport has picked up in recent years. As an MMA fan it doesn't make it any easier to swallow...especially when people on the other side will pick the few instances like the brawl and try to paint broad strokes.
In the overall scheme of things in the MMA world, situations like these will be forgotten footnotes, but the black-eye at the time they occur is a bitch to deal with.
First, I've never spent time with them so I can't speak for them personally; I can only speak for what I see of them and their public personna. That being said, their personal conduct must be much different than their public conduct.
Second, when MMA is sanctioned in all 50 states and across Canada, I will concede this point. Until then, I contend that the sport is still fighting for acceptance. It might be mainsteam acceptance, but acceptance none the less.
Third, my point was that the media makes a simple yet negative association in the headline of the article. The focus should be the horrific crime committed; not that it was an MMA fighter that committed the crime. It illustrates that the conduct of individuals many times is portrayed to reflect more than just the individuals themselves. In this instance, it wasn't just that a human being did this, it was, for some reason, important to note that it was an MMA fighter.
Lastly, my point was that a large part of the population will take relatively isolated incidents and impose that expecation of bad behavior across a large portion of the MMA community. I still contend that, for the most part, that is the way things work.
I have spent time with the Diaz brothers, and they are certainly not "dickheads" like you say. For the record.
Second: You say its bad for the sport because it will somehow cause there to be less fights for the fans to watch? .....Your trolling now...either that or you don't understand business enough to make such a ridiculous claim. MMA has passed the point of no return. You will not only get to see fights, you will be over-exposed to MMA fights.
Third: Your "case-in-point" also is out of line. First of all, the example you gave had something to do with a fighter doing something outside of an event. This brawl took place at and during an event. Huge difference in how the media would title and cover it.
Last: Your claim of "its the way things work" is wrong man. Sorry. Question is...when you said you didn't like things working the way you described were you telling the truth? Since things don't work the way you thought, and didn't like....will you change your views and opinions on the subject? I bet not...and what does that mean?
leonard...It's bad for the sport and we as fans should care. The more this kind of stuff happens, the less accepted the sport is...which means we won't get to watch it as much as we like. You are right, this kind of thing happens in all sports (and it reflects poorly on them as well) but they are well-established sports and they are not 'fighting' for acceptance.
Case in point, did anyone see the story about the MMA fighter that drank some kind of mushroom tea, then proceeded to gouge out his friend's eye and carve out his heart...while the guy was still alive. I assume the 'carvee' had to be completely incapacitated from whatever the hell they were doing, but the report said the 'carver' was found standing naked over the mutilated body covered in blood. The headline started with 'MMA Fighter..." If it was an accountant that did it, they wouldn't write "Accountant Murders Friend; Gouges Out Eye, Carves Out Heart." The guy is identified by the sport; right, wrong or indifferent. It sucks, but it's the way things work.
I don't like it one bit, but the point is that all this stuff reflects on the sport and it's acceptance. Lack of acceptance means lack of coverage, lack of viewership, and lack of opportunity to watch.
The REAL question here is, WWDFWD?
i was indeed. i'm just not as good at it as mr misanthropy
good quote that baseball one, btw.
punchy puncherson Says:
Wed, 05/26/2010 - 21:33
@ccman
yeah buddy, those diaz brothers sure are a great example of under privileged ghetto thugs from a poor socio-economic background who have done nothing to rise up and triumph over adversity.
spot on, champ.
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If you were being sarcastic, then i totally agree with your point.
I always say that it's a whole lot easier to get a homerun in life if you were born on 3rd base.
Nate, although also a fine fighter, is much more of a douchebag than Nick. But Miller is even more of a douchebag than Nate. And Jackson? Are you freaking kidding me? That guy's more of a douchebag than anyone in the UFC!
yeah buddy, those diaz brothers sure are a great example of under privileged ghetto thugs from a poor socio-economic background who have done nothing to rise up and triumph over adversity.
spot on, champ.
I really like how that sounds. I hope no one minds if i change my username to that.
Join society fuckwads.
Dude, you're right about outrage to MMA shenanigans, but even during the early days of the UFC, aside from John McCain, who really took a dump on MMA? How much hooliganism really was there? If you're already a diehard fan, it's safe to assume that you don't care if some close-minded jagoff is gonna say about MMA. If you're a big Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention fan, do you really care about what Tipper Gore and the PMRC had to say about music censorship? You should. We should always care what morons in power have to say.
sorry, I have to jump back into the argument (please don't beat me).
It doesn't matter if there were just a few casual/new fans tuning in, or oblivious idiots turning to that channel, or one anti-mma lawmaker - they're the ones who make the "human cockfighting" analogy, and keep vilifying/criminalizing the sport. The vocal minority, sadly, often wins.
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