UFC President Dana White has responded to Meryl Streep’s controversial comment regarding MMA at the Golden Globes earlier this week.
“If we kick [foreigners] out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts – which are not the arts,” Streep said during an acceptance speech that was mainly aimed at incoming president Donald Trump, but nonetheless offended many within the MMA community.
“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 told TMZ Sports.
“Of course [MMA] is an art,” White continued. “These fighters, these men and women, are so talented. They train their whole lives to be the best in the world. To say something stupid like that is like saying, ‘She’s not a talented actress,’ which she is. She’s a very talented actress.”
Bellator boss Scott Coker had also reacted to Streep’s catty remark, though he stopped short of taking any pot-shots at the 67 year-old star and instead invited her to attend Bellator 170 later this month in L.A.
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) 9 January 2017
