How would Bruce Lee, at his peak, fare in the UFC?

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I'm sure that if there was MMA like there is today back in Bruce's day, and Bruce had a few years to train, he'd be at the top of sport in his weight class. There isn't much ground fighting in Bruce's JKD, only basic judo and wrestling. His JKD wasn't complete, and Bruce knew it wasn't finished.

I think the only things holding him back given proper training would be a lack of motivation to compete and maybe his chin (I've heard that some of his training partners comment on how Bruce thought his chin was small or something). He didn't enter any kickboxing/boxing competitions because he wanted to develop a style, not necessarily prove a point by sport. He coached many champs though (EDIT: though for most he wasn't their primary/first trainer).
 
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What martial arts are solely focused on limb breaking, permanent damage stuff? Aren't there a couple of more extreme forms of martial arts than the standard ones we all know about? Because if he's expert in any of those - he had speed the current guys don't.

But the current guys scare the crap out of me with the extents to which they'll go. Actually it's the copycat people out there that scare me because that'll be my luck next time someone steps. I'll wind up with no arms, no legs - lacking the ability to speak or hear. This is how I'll lead a nation.

EDIT: Ninjitsu and Muay Thai look like the ones where you'd lose an eyeball, snap a leg, lots of fun stuff. I grit my teeth subconsciously when I watch any of those. But I can never change the channel.
 
Net_Wrecker said:
Well that's just not fair. You can apply that thinking to any sort of revolutionary idea ever. I'm willing to bet that every idea in history had at least one other person on the Earth thinking "Damn, I had that idea too."
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I guess its not fair but I read people use this revolutionary way of doing martial arts being accredited to him when in fact within the martial art community the revolution already started before. Some people will tell you Bruce was attacking traditions when its not true traditions were already being challenged.
 
SpeedingUptoStop said:
Bruce Lee kicked a 300 lb gorilla through a brick wall
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You forgot to mention that Bruce was actually asleep at the time. When informed of the state of the animal, Bruce apologized sincerely and explained that he was merely stretching his legs.
 
Is it just me, or are people unaware that Bruce Lee didn't actually fight like he did in those movies. Those movies were stylised on purpose by him.

He was a professional boxer at one point, and was a very good one. There's a lot of "oh but people who only focus and so and so suck in MMA". Well it's a good thing Lee wasn't so narrow minded as that. He was constantly looking to improve himself and his fighting technique. He looked into a variety of different fighting styles and tried to incorporate what he thought were the best aspects. For his time, his training regime was ahead of everyone else's, he even looked into the science of developing the body.

Yes, the fight wouldn't go easily for him, but I don't think he would be swatted away like some people are suggesting.
 
dream said:
Kapu Kuialua, the art of Hawaiian bone breaking. :lol

It didn't fare very well in the UFC.

Or in the one and done WCC.
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Fine - but look what he was trying to do to the left leg at :40 on the WWC thing.
Someone that doesn't know to be a moving octopus of destruction in a fight like this would have a joyous experience of their knee cracking out sideways. Fortunately that guy was like, not so fast Shirty McShirt.

I guess that's what I mean by the copycats. Who knows how often that sort of thing happens on the "minor league" versions of this. I broke my tibia+fibula. Guess what? Lifetime of pain.
 
CaptYamato said:
There isn't a sport called UFC.
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Apologies, the incredibly commercialized branch of MMA called the UFC. As has already been said, he was much more into philosophy than competition, so even if he was around today, it's unlikely he would compete.

dream said:
This completely ignores the fact that EVERYONE at the top level is dedicated to training to the point where it's probably incredibly unhealthy for them.
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What I'm saying is that given today's technology and knowledge of training techniques, Lee would be even more proficient than we was back then.
 
JKD has evolved an awful lot. Those trapping techniques from BL's time, I think, were specifically focused on Karate cos it was big at the time.

I haven't trained at the Inosanto Academy (although I have with Inosanto himself at a UK seminar) but I have trained a lot with Bob Breen and those guys are fucking amazing.

EDIT: Yep, Lee was kind oof a pioneer of MMA. He championed Western Boxing, incorporated Fencing (for footwork) and, with Inosanto, melded Filipino styles with Wing Chun and Kung Fu (as far as I know).
 
i thought in ufc you just have to be really muscly and heavy and just throw them to ground and hit them while they cant move or something?
 
VAIL said:
Jackie Chan in his prime would have bested Bruce and any MMA contender, and that is the truth.


For all his antics, he had the speed and scope to do it....
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Yeah right, Bruce destroyed him with like two moves in Enter the Dragon.

But to be serious, Bruce Lee would be good at what he was good at while he was alive. MMA is kind of a whole different thing and who knows how good he would have been if he trained for it?
 
awesomeapproved said:
Fine - but look what he was trying to do to the left leg at :40 on the WWC thing.
Someone that doesn't know to be a moving octopus of destruction in a fight like this would have a joyous experience of their knee cracking out sideways. Fortunately that guy was like, not so fast Shirty McShirt.

I guess that's what I mean by the copycats. Who knows how often that sort of thing happens on the "minor league" versions of this. I broke my tibia+fibula. Guess what? Lifetime of pain.
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Well, if BJJ players wanted to be dicks they could crank subs instead of slowly applying pressure and leverage. Frank Mir used to do that before his accident.
 
dream said:
Well, if BJJ players wanted to be dicks they could crank subs instead of slowly applying pressure and leverage. Frank Mir used to do that before his accident.
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Gotcha.
I gotta say, I watched that second one the whole way through and I am just an enormous, enormous pussy. First of all I am mentally done for the day blood pressure tripled.
I just can't fathom the next day pain - these guys must be so tough but also live on vicodin. IF I could last through a fight like (yeah right) that that ended with someone literally about to kill me - within moments actually - I'd crawl to the corner of that octagon and, while in the fetal position - cry, pee myself, ask for my mom, ask for my teeth, and ask for a desk job.

EDIT: Oh, fantastic. Mike Bitonio is actually dead. I'm going home.
 
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
It would honestly come down to how well Wing Chun would perform against a grapple style.
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How Bruce Lee fought in his later years was not representative of his Wing Chun heritage. He rejected traditional martial arts styles, his famous line being "too much Wing Chun". In his prime, it wouldn't be unfair to say he took more from boxing than he did Wing Chun.
 
ssolitare said:
Just curious though:

If someone in UFC could strike like a high level professional boxer, how dominant would they be?
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They'd do well, but they would need to have very functional takedown and sub defense. Also, most people fail to comprehend that a pure boxing stance/technique would not work in mma. You always have to be wary of and be ready to defend a takedown. MMA striking his its own nuances.
 
ssolitare said:
Just curious though:

If someone in UFC could strike like a high level professional boxer, how dominant would they be?
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If they could only strike that well and nothing else? Not very well. If they developed a good level of ground fighting/take down defence they would do well but obviously thats a big if. Mirko Cro Cop came over from kickboxing to MMA and achieved a high level of success because he manage to develop an excellent take down defence so was able to keep a lot of fights standing.
 
yacobod said:
most of these ppl need to take off their rose colored sun glasses and get real, bruce would get taken down and beaten on for 3 rounds if not subbed, hell i'm not so sure he'd even be able to win a fight standing when you factor in dirty boxing, MT clinch, cage n pray tactics, and the like.

and karate fighters faired horribly in the original or early UFC tournaments.

this thread is completely retarded.
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thank you for adding some sanity to this thread. anybody saying bruce lee would dominate all the weight classes should get slapped in the face.
 
smurfx said:
thank you for adding some sanity to this thread. anybody saying bruce lee would dominate all the weight classes should get slapped in the face.
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He wouldn't dominate all the weight classes but to say he wouldn't do well or be a force to reckon with is messed up.

he would do great if he was in UFC now but it's all speculation anyway.
 
smurfx said:
thank you for adding some sanity to this thread. anybody saying bruce lee would dominate all the weight classes should get slapped in the face.
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He was freakishly fast and strong for his weight though, and extremely dedicated to training. So I think he would be competitive in his own weight class, if that was his aim. But I doubt that he would have given up acting to pursue MMA. It's hard to see how he could have done both.
 
He would kick all their asses with one hand tied behind his back. What kind of question is this?
 
Stitch said:
ITT: people are too young to know any shit about bruce lee
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Uh, he died in 73, but what does that have to do with anything? A 12 year old could find out more about Bruce online right now than any other random person could have learned by simply being alive at the same time as Bruce.

rvy said:
No fighter would dare getting into the ring with Bruce.
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One did, and from reports I've read Bruce punched him in the back of the head when he was turned away.
 
DrFunk said:
perfect thread for shinobifist's avatar
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Sup....Anyway...Can't believe the dumb comments in this thread. The man was a ACTOR, not a fighter. If you're going to convince the world that you're the baddest mofo in the planet, you better look like it. With that said, would he be a great fighter in MMA??? I think so, the man had incredible work ethic and a amazing knowledge of the arts. But would he dominate? No. MMA is very random, all it takes is that one lucky blow, and Bruce Lee had a HUGE head, so there....
 
SapientWolf said:
He was freakishly fast and strong for his weight though
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brock lesnar is also freakishly fast and strong for his weight, doesn't do him a lot of good when he can't take a punch. no idea if bruce had a good chin or not.
 
I'm ignorant, so please forgive me, but...

What's with the weight issue? Whether he was 160 or 133, he had the speed and the power behind his hits. Look at Pacquiao.

While he wouldn't go undefeated, he'd most likely do very, very well. He was very disciplined and clearly loved the art of fighting. It would certainly be interesting to see him adapt to MMA.
 
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