MMA community reacts to anti-MMA comment in Meryl Streep speech

By Tom Taylor - January 9, 2017

The most buzz-worthy moment of Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony was a Meryl Streep speech that criticized not only Donald Trump and the sport of football, but also threw a subtle jab at mixed martial arts.

Meryl Streep speech

“Who are we, and what is Hollywood anyway? It’s just a bunch of people from other places,” Streep said after she was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. “So, Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. And if we kick them all out, we’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”

Given that the Golden Globes draw in something in the area of 20 million viewers annually, it’s not surprising that this speech quickly began generating responses from the MMA community. While the majority of these responses came from passionate fight fans, a number of others also came from top fighters and MMA personalities, ranging from former UFC heavyweight champ Josh Barnett, to reporters Megan Olivi and Ariel Helwani to, Bellator MMA President Scott Coker.

Check out some of the best of these responses below:

https://twitter.com/TheBarnCatMMA/status/818294429970788353

https://twitter.com/CWadeMMA/status/818320381417230336

As you can see in this latter Tweet, Bellator boss Scott Coker went so far as to invite Streep to Bellator 170 in an attempt to sway her on the many strengths of mixed martial arts. This card, which will emanate from Los Angeles, California, will be headlined by a lightweight showdown between three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen and former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. The card will also feature a welterweight scrap between Paul Daley and Brennan Ward, and a middleweight style clash between Hisaki Kato and Ralek Gracie.

What did you think of the Golden Globes’ much discussed Meryl Streep speech? Were the beloved Holly star’s comments justified? Make your voice heard in the comments section, PENN Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Josh Barnett Scott Coker