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Question regarding Bruce Lee

30K views 352 replies 113 participants last post by  kantowrestler 
#1 ·
Bruce Lee vs any UFC fighter

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and was wondering if you could all help me settle a long running debate I have been having with my friends.

Everyone knows that Bruce Lee is the greatest fighter ever and I tell my friends who all watch UFC that he could easily defeat any of them however they all tell me I'm wrong. The main reasons I feel he could beat any UFC (or MMA fighter) is:
  • One inch punch - I feel this is his strongest ally as it requires little room (1 inch) to deploy it so could be done even when being grabbled and the speed of it cannot be blocked. Anyone he hits with this is as good as finished
  • Didn't need to fight people on the ground - from what ive seen most mma is ended on the ground with some unwieldy hold however Bruce PERFECTED the art of beating his opponents whilst they were standing up. In short he would not need to rely about getting them on the ground
  • Mental toughness - the brain can be the warriors strongest or weakest weapon. Bruce was subjected to a rigorous training regime like no other on earth plus allegedly achieved enlightenment so his mental prowess would ensure his victory

There are a few more points but I feel that makes my case, any honest feedback or constructive criticism would be much appreciated. No haterz though.

Shadow Dragon
 
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#117 ·
Lots of guys in his weight would beat him in an mma fight now. He was a great athlete and a smart guy so im sure if he was around today and wanted to compete in mma he would have done really well, but people have to overlook this mythological status he has, he was just a man. Yes I am a fan of his too, he was my idol as a child but he could have got KO'd or submitted or decisioned just like anyone else.
 
#118 ·
My opinion is this. If you are talking about taking BL then, and putting him in the cage now with the skills he had then, then I would say he would definitely get beat by the top guys due to natural and necessary evolution of the sport.

However, If you are talking about taking him, and then letting him evolve and train the way the sport is now, then I think that he would be like A. Silva in his class. He was incredibly fast, accurate, and powerful. Sounds like Silva to me in a lot of ways.
 
#122 · (Edited by Moderator)
MMA wasnt around when Bruce Lee was alive, right?
Bruce Lee created MMA! :praise01: Well, he did not exactly name it, but he basically provided the blue print for what MMA would become. Taking everything unnecessary and throwing it out, only keeping what was effective, also allowing your body a sense of freedom to adapt automatically, thus creating Jeet Kun Do.

Also, a lot of ignorant people believe he was just an actor, when in actuality he was a superb martial artist who THEN entered the movie industry.

I suggest reading his auto/biography or AT LEAST watching the movie Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.

Most people don't know, but Pankration was the first form of MMA practiced in ancient Greece, alongside wrestling.
If by "most people" you are referring to the general public and UFC fans, then, yes. Otherwise this is common knowledge, if not dogma, to MMA fans.
 
#121 ·
Godfather of MMA? He isn't even close. Mixed Martial Arts is as old as Greco-Roman Wrestling. Most people don't know, but Pankration was the first form of MMA practiced in ancient Greece, alongside wrestling. Many warriors participated, and there was grappling aswell as striking, and fights lasted until a participant was either crippled or dead.

So if anything, the godfather of MMA is the one who thought of this art. No such person is recorded, but the undisputed champion of that art was a Greek by the name of Dioxippus. He was so skilled at fighting that he could take on multiple armored soldiers (who had swords) and win.

As for fighting in today's fighting culture, I believe Bruce Lee is intelligent enough to evolve and become a great fighter, but as it stands he would be taken down by most fighters and pounded out, as he is unfamiliar with that style of fighting.
 
#133 ·
As for fighting in today's fighting culture, I believe Bruce Lee is intelligent enough to evolve and become a great fighter, but as it stands he would be taken down by most fighters and pounded out, as he is unfamiliar with that style of fighting.
Erroneous. He would Judo the gentleman before choking him out.

 
#123 ·
...Bas Rutten "I think Bruce Lee would not do well at first in today's Mixed Martial Arts. No question he would be a fast learner and he would have become a very good fighter".
...The opening fight scene in Enter The Dragon (1973), Lee wins the tournament match using strikes, sweeps, judo throws, (even acrobats) and finishes his opponent with an armbar. (Even though the armbar is incorrect, the fighter taps out. That is a mixture of the Martial Arts...thus MMA. Bruce arguably started it, or at least brought it to the big screen.
 
#124 ·
You all have some good points.. and as someone pointed out earlier the Greeks technically created MMA with Pankration which was a mixture of grappling and striking. Bruce can be credited for bringing it into the modern Era...

How he would fare in todays MMA world... In his weight class I think he would be a dominant figure.. His striking would be nearly unmatched in all weight classes.. his ground game more then like would be on par as well.. While he may not overtly trained it. Bruce was learning grappling.. Jeet Kun Do was an unfinished art form. What peopel always fail to take into this debate is the way Bruce Lee trained and his philosophies on training.. So I think if he were around as MMA in its current form developed Bruce would be a dominate fighter with a record that would be unmatched.. I'd even give him the edge against a lot of larger opponents as well dude to his speed and strength for a man much smaller in physical stature.
 
#125 ·
While I agree that his striking would be rather good, i disagree that his ground game would be on par. Sure, we've all "trained" grappling in some form, but he was primarily a stand-up fighter, and like the rest of us who wrestled in middle school at some point, could not touch an NCAA champion or a BJJ black belt in the ground department. I strongly believe he would be vastly outmatched on the ground.

I also don't think he would do well against a boxer. None of the Asian martial arts teach their disciples to dodge, bob, weave, slip and in most cases even block punches. That is attributed mostly to boxing and to a certain degree, muay thai. What he strove to create in Jeet Kune Do was simple, effective movements with little flair and no filler. Boiled down, that is exactly what boxing is. He would essentially be out of his game if faced with a good boxer, and would not do well against one in my opinion.

To do an honest analysis, one has to realize Bruce Lee was, for sure, a good martial artist, but his bread and butter was acting and he was in fact, not a god :D. He had no idea back then how many disciplines people know in modern MMA and how well-rounded fighters would get.
 
#126 ·
so it seems like Bruce's walk around weight was about 160lbs, so cutting properly, he'd be a Featherweight. top competition in that division is Mike Brown, Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver.
how do you all think he'd fair against the likes of them with the modern day all around trainings?
 
#127 ·
Well, he definitely knew his trainings well, and was obviously adaptable (hence his creating of a martial art or practice)

I think he'd do rather well given time to adapt and train. I don't really know how to answer questions like this, because I can't just say "Bruce Lee first round TKO" but I know he would hold his own
 
#129 ·
If Bruce was given the opportunity to continue to evolve his fighting style over the years he would've wrecked anyone in the UFC including Brock >:[ Okay, maybe not Brock, but probably anyone from 135 (his weight) up to 155 and maybe 170. I'm not sure if anyone here knows about what his work ethic was, but the man was absolutely insane. He probably worked out 16 hours a day every day through out his entire career. He used to work out as he was performing menial tasks about his house. When he was making business calls, he would lift weights. When he was reading abuot martial arts, he would lift. Etc. The man was amazing abuot his work ethic and knew more about martial arts than I could ever hope to. A true genius of the sport. GIven the chance to evolve with the likes of BJJ (his Judo was already phenominal) and wrestling I think he would've done nothing but destroy other fighters.

If you're talking about "In his prime", then I still think he'd be a hell of a lot of fighters.
 
#131 ·
This. It really saddens me how uneducated most of the MMA community are about Bruce Lee. I've even read posts here where some people think he was simply an actor. Bruce Lee's life was martial arts, his training regimen as well as his work ethic can hardly be compared to a lot of athletes of today. Bruce Lee's flexibility and strength was off the charts, especially considering his size.

One can only assume that due to his mentality he would have evolved with martial arts. I think Lee would've been in the P4P discussions if he were young enough to compete professionally today, and of course still alive.
 
#130 ·
He was an excellent striker, he would get crushed by basically anyone with a decent ground game today. Relative to the rest of the world at the time he was great. Given modern training in wrestling and BJJ how would he do? Who knows, that is impossible speculation.

People are really over rating him here, as pointed out he in no way invented MMA, he just got it onto the movie screen and even then it wasn't MMA, it was virtually striking only. How can you guys think a pure striker is going to beat the wrestlers and BJJ experts in MMA? They'd break him in half in two minutes. He did MMA a valuable service by popularizing it but lets be realistic here.
 
#132 ·
...Good points. I had my ass chewed a while back for defending Bruce saying that he would be a great MMA fighter if he was in his prime today. Just imagine what Greg Jackson could do with him in 6 or 8 months of training.
...The other dragon, Lyoto Machida, would be a good representation of Bruce Lee in today's MMA.

"Let's just put it this way. I have no fear of the opponent in front of me. I'm very self-sufficient. They do not bother me. Should I fight. Should I do anything, I have made up my mind and that's it baby. You better kill me before". Bruce Lee
 
#141 ·
he had physical conditioning and strength that is unmatched by anyone I have ever seen. And that is what is worth talking about. Of course he would get demolished if he were to walk in the UFC today, BJ Penn could smother him, take him down, then he'd be defenseless. But that's not the point, his work ethic and discipline is completely unmatched. I think if Bruce Lee was 25 years old and had the chance to train with a top team he'd be a champion without a doubt.
 
#142 ·
For as big a fan of Bruce Lee as I am, he can't be given sole credit for trying to blend fighting styles to create a superior one. The martial arts is all about evolution and creating styles that the orginator thinks works. Bruce Lee was just following this noble tradition that hundreds of asian martial artists developed.

If he was in UFC 1-7 or 8, he'd be a badass against most and have difficulty against the BJJ guys.

Last point, Bruce Lee moved so fast his hands slowed down, that doesn't mean JKD or TKD is a viable professional fighting style.
 
#146 ·
Yes he did. And to a point I agree with what you are trying to say. On the other side of the coin, what you are bringing along side of it is utter crap when taken into the context of an intelligent conversation.

You do realize that 1" in punch is simply a demonstration of applied body mechanics? Further, as attested by Lebell himself, Lee had ground skills. He simply knew what did not work on screen when it came to movies.

You sir fall in the end of the spectrum that Lee was simply a showy movie star. I'm sorry, but that would be ignorant in the face of credit that other martial artists give him (Gene Lebell being one of them).
 
#148 ·
Irrelevant, but fun facts. Bruce Lee was born in San Fransisco as an American Citizen and his name was given to him by a nurse, who felt if he had an American name, there wouldn't be any confusion as to the citizenship of the baby. Also, Bruce wasn't pure Chinese, he was actually part German (his grandfather from his mother’s side was half German). Also, due to this little fact and because it was seen as taboo by everyone else to teach kung fu to a non- pure blood.
His master, Yip Man, had to teach him Wing Chun in private.

and knowing is half the battle.
 
#149 ·
Lee VS Inoki

Now that would've been a dream match at the time! Even though Bruse Lee can be considered the father of MMA, Inoki can also be regarded as an early MMA fighter. In fact, he fought one of the best boxers of the era Mohammed Ali, though it ended in a tie. He was also rewarded the WWF World Martial Arts Title and was only one of two fighters to hold it. He also taught many hybrid MMA/prowrestling fighters in Japan!
 
#150 ·
Dont Mean to Bring This Up...

I was just searching for some Bruce Lee training methods on the net and came across this forum. I've trained very little in MMA, although I have trained in Ken po and Tai Kwan Do.

I just couldn't hold my tongue on this one; to say that ANY man could have defeated Bruce Lee in ANY capacity is totally insane. You MMA people have no concept of the way Bruce Lee trained and lived his life. He would defeat ANY man that has ever lived, easily, might I add. In MMA, or any other form of physical combat. Seriously. The man did more for the modern day MMA than anyone, and you dont even realize it!!
 
#151 ·
I was just searching for some Bruce Lee training methods on the net and came across this forum. I've trained very little in MMA, although I have trained in Ken po and Tai Kwan Do.

I just couldn't hold my tongue on this one; to say that ANY man could have defeated Bruce Lee in ANY capacity is totally insane. You MMA people have no concept of the way Bruce Lee trained and lived his life. He would defeat ANY man that has ever lived, easily, might I add. In MMA, or any other form of physical combat. Seriously. The man did more for the modern day MMA than anyone, and you dont even realize it!!
Sure we do. It's just an extremely explosive topic on this forum, as you may have noticed.

Welcome to the forum.
 
#152 ·
Bruce Lee was "just" some Kung Fu guy? Do you have any idea how many tournaments that man was in? I mean for Christ sake he made his own Martial Art. Does Silva, have his own Martial Art? Did Anderson, have to beat mother****ers up IRL on his movie sets? Does Anderson, have people trying to kill him because he's teaching other people Martial Arts? NO! Anderson Silva is JUST some UFC fighter. He's good. Hell he's ****in' great but, Bruce Lee is Legendary. Hell he made the "horse" stance. He did the ORIGINAL "One Inch Punch." His stepping side kicks could probably knock a friggen house over... Jesus.. What the hell is going on around here!? Anderson Silva could beat Bruce Lee.... PFFFT! Blasphemy!
 
#155 ·
Oh my god. Not this again.

We're talking about a fight in which Lee would give up 30-40 pounds and a half dozen inches of reach (at least). Apart from the physical disadvantage, we're dealing with the martial arts equivalent of inflation.

Each notable generation of athletes are better than their predecessors. Usain Bolt is faster than Carl Lewis. We deal with the same thing in combat.

Systems advance, they move forward, they get better.

That's not to rag on "legends," but we're talking about guys who dealt with inferior training methods and inferior knowledge of kinesthetics.

Anderson Silva would beat Bruce Lee because he's bigger, stronger, more athletic, and working with a superior knowledge of training methods.

I have a lot of respect for Bruce Lee, but if you're going to talk to him fighting, at least talk about him in the context of a division that makes sense.
 
#154 ·
No... Just no. Somebody please close this piece of shit thread. You have know-it-alls and know-nothings on both extremes of the spectrum of this topic...

And just like clockwork, it pops up right after a UFC event.
 
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