Gilbert Melendez recalls infamous Strikeforce: Nashville brawl with Jason 'Mayhem' Miller: "I'm kind of responsible"

Gilbert Melendez recently opened up about the infamous post-fight brawl between his team and Jason 'Mayhem' Miller, which resulted in Strikeforce losing its deal with CBS. The brawl was costly because it also led to the promotion losing a major revenue stream, which was eventually sold to the UFC's parent company, Zuffa.

The infamous brawl took place following Jake Shields' successful middleweight title defense against Dan Henderson, which the judges scored 49-46, 49-46 and 48-45 in his favor. During his post-fight interview, 'Mayhem' entered the cage and interrupted by asking for a rematch before chaos ensued when Shields' teammate Nick Diaz threw a punch.

Despite generating 2.9 million viewers, the brawl was a bad look for the network and it decided to cancel its deal with Strikeforce.

During his appearance on Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's JAXXON PODCAST, the former Strikeforce lightweight champion said that he unintentionally played a role in the brawl by pushing Miller in an attempt to defuse the situation. Melendez mentioned that starting a brawl wasn't his intention and noted that he doesn't have any animosity toward 'Mayhem':

"I feel like I'm kind of responsible for that. If you watch the video, I was pretty hyped up...'Mayhem' is being 'Mayhem' and I'm like, 'Yo, back up'...I push him back a little bit and then, you know, that's a green light for Nick and Nate [Diaz]...So they start busting him up...I just tried to defuse the problem. By the way, I love 'Mayhem', I think he's great and I think he's amazing. Dude, that's like, again, boys will be boys."

Check out Gilbert Melendez's comments below:

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Who did Gilbert Melendez fight at Strikeforce: Nashville?

In addition to being a part of the infamous brawl with Jason 'Mayhem' Miller, Gilbert Melendez also competed in the co-main event of Strikeforce: Nashville, which aired on CBS.

Melendez was the reigning Strikeforce lightweight champion at the time and successfully retained his title by earning a dominant unanimous decision win over Shinya Aoki. It was an impressive win as Aoki was a decorated fighter in Japan and regarded by many as the best lightweight outside the UFC.

Check out the Strikeforce: Nashville brawl below: