The British rapper who was seen fighting with Jesse Metcalfe outside a Los Angeles nightclub has protested his innocence in the brawl, insisting he punched the actor in self-defense.

The former Desperate Housewives hunk was chatting to Crossroads star Taryn Manning outside the Boulevard 3 club when the actress' boyfriend Mams Taylor stepped in and knocked Metcalfe to the ground with a series of punches.

But Taylor is adamant it was Metcalfe, 29, who instigated the fight.

He tells OK! magazine, "Of course I'd rather the incident did not take place. But Jesse was arrogant, insulting and unnecessarily very rude to me as well as my girlfriend. I was also physically attacked first before I defended myself."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)