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Would Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris have dominated UFC?

Applesauce

Active member
A thread with a healthy population of stoner baby boomers spitting hyperbole about Bruce Lee. I love you guys but come on, let's face reality. Lee is a legend. He would get destroyed in his weight class (125,135?). He was ahead of his game, forty years ago.

A mid tier MMA guy at a regional show would beat Bruce Lee. The game changes and evolution occurs. There was some ground training in his arsenal but he couldn't foretell the additions to come. He'd get taken down and mauled or submitted.

The question becomes: Lee was very disciplined and a top level athlete (think GSP type). If he was taught MMA at a young age and took to it like you could assume he would, currently he'd be a beast.

Your striking means shit when you have a world class wrestler on you like a straight jacket. Bruce Lee with great wrestling would be a sight!
 
B

blue green

Lee studied all types of Martial Arts, so i imagine that he would be quick to learn all of the 'modern' skills and tactics.

Have you noticed near the beginning of Enter the Dragon that he puts one of the other martial artists in an arm bar?

He only was a legend because of his great talents, not his acting ability.lol
 

GMT

The Tri Guy
Veteran
world of difference between a choreographed fight sequence thats played back at a multiple of the speed it was filmed at, and a real opponent where you dont know whats coming.
 

DarthFader1

Member
Veteran
A thread with a healthy population of stoner baby boomers spitting hyperbole about Bruce Lee. I love you guys but come on, let's face reality. Lee is a legend. He would get destroyed in his weight class (125,135?). He was ahead of his game, forty years ago.

A mid tier MMA guy at a regional show would beat Bruce Lee. The game changes and evolution occurs. There was some ground training in his arsenal but he couldn't foretell the additions to come. He'd get taken down and mauled or submitted.

The question becomes: Lee was very disciplined and a top level athlete (think GSP type). If he was taught MMA at a young age and took to it like you could assume he would, currently he'd be a beast.

Your striking means shit when you have a world class wrestler on you like a straight jacket. Bruce Lee with great wrestling would be a sight!

Ban.
 

dagnabit

Game Bred
Veteran
A thread with a healthy population of stoner baby boomers spitting hyperbole about Bruce Lee. I love you guys but come on, let's face reality. Lee is a legend. He would get destroyed in his weight class (125,135?). He was ahead of his game, forty years ago.

A mid tier MMA guy at a regional show would beat Bruce Lee. The game changes and evolution occurs. There was some ground training in his arsenal but he couldn't foretell the additions to come. He'd get taken down and mauled or submitted.

The question becomes: Lee was very disciplined and a top level athlete (think GSP type). If he was taught MMA at a young age and took to it like you could assume he would, currently he'd be a beast.

Your striking means shit when you have a world class wrestler on you like a straight jacket. Bruce Lee with great wrestling would be a sight!
QFT
I love Bruce but the "rules" of the octagon are not condusive to his boxing style.
His build was not freakishly long enough.
He didnt have the guard or sprawl needed.
He would get eaten alive by a good div 1 wrestler.
 

dagnabit

Game Bred
Veteran
I think it would REALLY depend on which era of UFC you would pertain the aforementioned. UFC in it's infancy had only a few rules. Today it is riddled with rules (in order to make it less "barbaric"). Jeet Kun Do is, as is, Brazilian jui jitsu, arts incorporating kata (forms) and techniques of leverage, speed, body mechanics as well as human anatomy. Chuck Norris was personally trained by Bruce Lee. As were a lot of stars at that time. (Kareem Abdul Jabar, George Lazenby, James Coburn and Steve McQueen to name a few). Look up Bruce Lee's famous one inch punch. He was way beyond being just ahead of his time. He incorporated many arts that are hundreds of years old, and made them more efficiente.[/QUOTE
BJJ has no katas.
I dont think jkd does either but I can assure you we dont do katas at a bjj gym.
 

frankenstein2

Astronaut Status
Veteran
Chuck Norris can make Batman cry.

Chuck Norris can tap dance in flip flops.

Someone told Chuck Norris that roundhouse kicks are'nt the best way to kick someone. This has been recorded by historians as the worst mistake anyone has ever made!

Chuck Norris grates cheese with his abs.

Chuck Norris has a grizzly bear rug in his room. The bear isn't dead, it's just too afraid to move.
You almost forgot these- Chuck Norris once played russian roulette with a fully loaded gun...and won. When Chuck Norris was born the only person who cried was the doctor, you never slap chuck norris.
 

DarthFader1

Member
Veteran
QFT
I love Bruce but the "rules" of the octagon are not condusive to his boxing style.
His build was not freakishly long enough.
He didnt have the guard or sprawl needed.
He would get eaten alive by a good div 1 wrestler.

Yes, maybe, but, how often does wrestling prevail in MMA (UFC)? I can almost guarantee you without looking up any stats whatsoever that the most wins in the UFC is by knockouts or TKO's. Of course it would vary somewhat by weightclass, for example the heavyweights have a lot more KO's than say lightweights. Whilst wrestling does play a part in UFC, its not the most important skill to have imo. And Bruce would kick a good div 1 wrestler in the head 14 times before this wrestler even got close to taking him to the floor. I just don't buy it at all, jmo though.

Another thing to consider is having long limbs and being tall affords fighters some advantages, but, again, there is no one body type that is better than another. There are so many examples. Did you see the very recent Mark Hunt vs Steffan Strube fight. Strube is like 6 foot 11 in, Hunt is a podgy Islander not even 6 foot with killer strikes and stopping power. Guess who won, Hunt KO'd his ass out cold in the 3rd round. Bodytype and techniques are what makes up a fighter, but true fighting ability comes down to something almost intangible within an individual; their own experience, motivations, the freak factor if you will.. Anderson Silva has it, as did Bruce Lee. Saying Bruce would be owned by some div 1 wrestler is just outrageous.

darth
 

GMT

The Tri Guy
Veteran
kicks are no where near as fast as punches, in competition bruce lee never used kicks, all his wins were from punches.
 

dagnabit

Game Bred
Veteran
Wrestling is the most important aspect of the sport. Most of those KOs come in the form of ground and pound. Very little happens in the boxing range.
With the exception of Anderson the champs in every weight div. have a high level wrestling background. Wrestelers dominate the sport for a reason.
Like I said I am a big Bruce fan but in the UFC he would not excel.
Maybe in a very light weight div he could be a top contender but a good wrestler would grind him down and impose his will.
 

DarthFader1

Member
Veteran
Well i have to admit George St Pierre dominates his opposition with wrestling, we saw that in the Diaz fight although Diaz was definitely off his game that day.

Whilst i agree wrestling is important, and the champs in each division are strong wrestlers, i still don't think its the most important quality to success in MMA. It's really just a matter of opinion though, but if you ask me like i said its the intangible qualities fighters possess, but if i had to name a specific martial art its without a doubt brazilian ju jitsu in my book
 

dagnabit

Game Bred
Veteran
Except one small thing, lee had never competed in anything, unless you mean his movies... :biggrin:

Wildly inaccurate.
Bruce had many "boxing" matches prior to movies.
It is where he developed his JKD shaolin temple boxing tourneys.
 
Except one small thing, lee had never competed in anything, unless you mean his movies... :biggrin:
Actually Bruce Lee was at a karate tournament in San Francisco and challenged any man in the room .. he claimed to be able to beat any man in the tournament in 60 seconds or less. Guess what happened... thats right, Bruce Lee kicked dudes ass!
 

AlistonM

New member
Actually Bruce Lee was at a karate tournament in San Francisco and challenged any man in the room .. he claimed to be able to beat any man in the tournament in 60 seconds or less. Guess what happened... thats right, Bruce Lee kicked dudes ass!
Empty statements without any proof mean nothing.
 
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