"Hollywood is crawling with foreigners, and if you kick them all out, all you'll have to watch is football and mixed martial arts - and those are not arts."
This understandably drew the ire of the MMA community, with the reaction varying greatly from person to person. At one end of the scale, Bellator owner Scott Coker penned a courteous open letter to the actress, explaining his points clearly and concisely, and inviting Streep to be his guest for the upcoming Bellator 170: Sonnen vs Ortiz event at the Forum in LA.
Meanwhile, the comments were not taken so well on the other side of the MMA fence. Known for his strong and fiery demeanour, particularly in the face of criticism, UFC president Dana White described Streep as an "uppity 80 year-old lady", while telling her in no uncertain terms "if you don't like it, change the channel."
Somewhere in the middle sits John Kavanagh, the coach of Conor McGregor and numerous other top competitors across mainstream MMA organisations. While I have seen a number of click-baity articles posted that use the soundbite 'F**k off' to entice page views, I actually think he makes a wider point in his comments (see Facebook post below).
While questioning the motives of Streep for making these comments, claiming she attempted to make herself look more like 'one of the people' while sat in her mansion, the whole Streep debacle is based around the same idea: MMA is often extremely misunderstood by the general public, and no-one can identify whether it is an art or a sport. I can admit that I was certainly part of this group, with the term 'cage fighting' in my mind depicting lawless bouts where savages would attempt to tear one another apart for a baying crowd. I exaggerate slightly for dramatic effect, but it's certainly true that the word conjures a very different image to the reality at the highest level of mixed martial arts. While the violent outcome is inescapable, the methods by which it occurs are far more sophisticated than conventional wisdom suggests.
In order to demonstrate this, and why Meryl Streep is wrong, I apologise but I'm about to get pedantic. The definition of 'art' is 'the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.' Now, for every fan of 'traditional art' that gets teary-eyed at the brilliance of Picasso, and especially more abstract pieces like No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) by Mark Rothko, which, by the way, sold for $186m, there is an MMA fan who can tell you the emotion of disbelief and shock they had at the sight of the world famous 'Showtime' kick or Holly Holm's headlock knockout of Ronda Rousey at UFC 193.
Similarly, in terms of beauty, I can appreciate many art forms, be it music, theatre or paintings, and the thought and skill that goes into an MMA fight is no different. Take Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone's UFC 202 performance against Rick Story as a case in point. The foresight to know exactly how his opponent was going to move, and the impact that each of his strikes would have in his four-point combination, was absolutely stunning. To see him pull that off was, in my mind, no different that seeing a pitch-perfect live version of Pavarotti's 'Nessun Dorma' - instilling an emotion that makes you believe you are watching something incredible.
I think the point around MMA's perception gets increasingly interesting when compared to other combat sports, particularly boxing. While there remain some who believe all blood sports to be barbaric, these are certainly in the minority, with the majority of people able to recognise skill in the ring. For example, there are few that see Muhammad Ali as a violent thug, capable of rendering another human unconscious without a second thought. Instead, he is seen as the epitome of a true sportsman, with his movement and heart the attributes of focus.
Regardless of how valid the perception of MMA is, the point remains that there is one, and Meryl Streep's comments highlight this clearly. When it comes to a reaction, if the end goal is to change the negative perception of the sport, the more aggressive approach taken by the likes of Dana White isn't helpful. If anything, it appears to reinforce the violent and unpredictable stereotype created.
As with any sport, MMA will not be for everyone, and some people will never be able to get past the end result, which is ultimately violence. However, for those who are more open-minded, or perhaps less squeamish, we can only hope to influence opinion through reasoned explanation and education of the skills that make the art, rather than barbed comments, tweets and insults.
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