Meryl Streep poses in the press room during the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Alberto E. Rodriguez)
Meryl Streep's acceptance speech at this year's Golden Globes did not hold back any punches, dishing out digs against the likes of president elect Donald Trump and even mixed martial arts. There have been a lot of people opposed to mixed martial arts, but promoters have now imposed various safety precautions to make the sport more humane.
In fact, the state of New York only recently legalized the sport back in April 2016, according to the New York Daily News. The UFC has so far held one event in New York with another one coming on Feb. 11. Some mixed martial artists such as Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor, and former WWE champion CM Punk have even gained celebrity status.
Streep gave out a speech during this year's Golden Globes as pert of her acceptance of a lifetime achievement award. Her dig at MMA during the Golden Globes first started as a comment against Donald Trump's plans to kick out a considerable number of immigrants.
Hollywood and the acting arts as a whole will suffer because of this, as many accomplished actors are of foreign descent, Streep argued. She added that if these foreign actors were to be removed, then the United States will have nothing more to watch than football and mixed martial arts, both of which she believes are not art.
A lot of people, especially those involved in MMA, were upset with what Streep said about the sport. Two of the most respected MMA promoters have had their say on her speech as well.
The first of these two is Bellator MMA president Scott Coker. He took to Twitter to reveal his admiration for the actress and to invite her to the Bellator 170 event in Los Angeles. This is so she may be able see first hand the type of dedication mixed martial artists put into the craft.
As a martial artist and an MMA promoter, here is my open letter and #Bellator170 invite to the very talented #MerylStreep #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/zostN22RAK
— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) January 9, 2017
UFC president Dana White was next to comment on Streep's statements about MMA. He voiced his admiration for Streep, calling her a talented actress well deserving of her Golden Globe award. However, his comments on Streep's statement were far more stern compared to his Bellator counterpart.
"It's not going to be everybody's thing, and the last thing I expect is for an uppity 80-year-old lady to be in our demographic and love mixed martial arts," White said in an interview with TMZ Sports. He defended the sport, claiming that saying MMA is not an art is like saying Streep is not a talented actress.
Watch Streep's full acceptance speech at the 2017 Golden Globes here:
