Is she ready to rumble? Scott Coker, president of Bellator MMA, invited Meryl Streep to a fight after she made a dig at mixed martial arts during her impassioned speech at the 2017 Golden Globes on Sunday, January 8. Find out all you need to know about what Streep said at the ceremony in the video above.
As viewers saw on Sunday night, the 67-year-old actress made a fiery oration in which she addressed Donald Trump’s impending presidency without naming him, acknowledged the importance of diversity in show business — and, yes, also took aim at mixed martial arts.
“Hollywood is a bunch of people from other places crawling with outsiders and foreigners,” she said as she accepted the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award. “So if you kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”
In response, Coker took to Twitter to extend an invitation to the Florence Foster Jenkins star to accompany him to an upcoming showdown between UFC alums Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen.
“Meryl, I’m a lifelong fan of your work but also a lifelong martial artist who happens to promote mixed martial arts around the world. The global sport of mixed martial arts celebrates male and female athletes from all around the world who work years tirelessly honing their craft and — yes — art,” Coker wrote, explaining to Streep that his industry is surprisingly similar to hers. “They come from every country and every walk of life.”
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
He continued, “We at Bellator support them and honor their skill. Please be my guest at the LA Forum on January 21st and you will see that mixed martial arts is truly artistic — which will feature fighters from all over the world competing at a world-class level.”
The three-time Academy Award winner has yet to respond to Coker’s request.
