Even forgetting MMA, I would have bet that Bruce couldn't handle the average Brazilian Jiu Jitsu purple belt, and maybe not even blue belts. I don't think Bruce would be "the one" who is able to keep a good grappler from taking him down.
As for Joe Lewis, I'll be the first to admit that Joe had a big ego and may have thought more highly of himself than he should have. But, because of his ego, what would he have gained from fighting Bruce? Bruce was an actor and a teacher. Do you really think Joe would put himself on the line to possibly give Bruce credibility at his expense? What would Joe have gained from this at the time? If he had beaten Bruce in a competitive fight, then let's think about that: Joe Lewis was a point-Karate tournament champion and a full contact kickboxing champion. Joe was also 5' 11 and 200 lbs, while Bruce Lee was 5' 7.75" and (at the time of Enter the Dragon) 126 lbs. Don't you see how people would have said, "Well of course, Joe is a professional fighter and has a significant size advantage over Lee." If Joe lost on the other hand, then it would mean that Bruce just beat a world champ and professional fighter with a huge size advantage.
Plus, people don't just fight each other just to see who is better. I have many martial arts friends whom I've never gotten into a real fight with (and maybe this is different for you and your friends) because I don't just fight just to see if I can beat someone up. Understand?
Many guys on here who I respect like Callsign, Keyboard Warrior, Glutton, Kyle, Kokoro, Pugpaws, jwbulldogs, etc are guys I would love to meet in real life just to talk to and learn from and possibly train with. Never would it cross my mind to fight them, even if I had an opportunity, simply because I don't just fight just to see who is better. So this is silly to say that Joe Lewis had an opportunity to fight Bruce. I could say the same about Bruce, that if he thought he was so great, why didn't he challenge Joe Lewis or any other champion? In fact, Joe Lewis has stated that Bruce never even sparred with him, and he has never seen him spar any pro fighter. Even Chuck Norris concurs with that and said that Bruce was very good, but neither of them wanted to "go there".
Edit: btw, I have to say that this isn't necessarily a slam on Bruce Lee. It's just facing the reality. Fighters today have many advantages that Bruce did not have during his time. Today, we have fully equipped gyms, we have volumes of videos of fights to study from, we have a community of fighters that advocate cross-training, etc. If Bruce had all of these things during his time, he might have done pretty well for himself against an MMA fighter of comparable size.
No chance.
I can't even think of anyone who I would favour to beat Bruce Lee in an unarmed fight without any rules. He was too quick, accurate, powerful, intuitive, smart, fearless and his concept of JKD is a lot more useful for real street fights than traditional martial arts or combat sports.
By they way, Anderson Silca once said that outside of the prize ring Bruce Lee would beat any UFC fighter, including himself.
I like your quote from Bob Wall, great stuff.
Kind regards from Germany
Bruce Lee was 5'7 and 135 lbs I think. No one has ever seen him fight competitively or properly. It has always been some **** action movie sequence. Now I'm not denying he is good but the question is who would win out of Bruce Lee and a WWE wrestler. In a proper fight someone with a huge height/ weight advantage would destroy him. So maybe I could beat Bruce Lee...
Me personally, no. I don't think i'll ever be that good. Although, we do have to take all the movie effects out of it. No, he would not dig his fingers right into someone's chest like that to kill them, there is far too much bone. It is also highly unlikely he would defeat a whole karate school like he did in the movies. I know when he did that side kick to that thug through a wall Enter the Dragon, that was actually real. I was reading he was pissed off that day about something and he actually sent that man through the wall. It was a movie break away, but still that was a pretty impressive kick. I don't think and average MMA fighter could beat him. I don't think MMA fighters are superior to those who do TMAs or any other style. Although I would like to be able to see Bruce in his prime against guys like Fedor, Silva, or Cung Le.
I still respect Lee as a martial artist philosopher, but he's not as amazing as in the movies. If movies were realistic, and actors were like that in real like, Norris and Lee would both have to run from Liam Neeson.
Are you kidding? Bruce Lee was the greatest martial artist in the world. There's no way that anyone here could have beaten him in a fight. Especially no MMA practitioner. This is MMA arrogance at its worst.
You are kidding right? The best martial artist ever? I don't think so they will most likely kiss the ground before they even lay a hand on him. For real Lee beat the like of Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Damm
you really think MMA guys can touch him. HA HA I really like to see them try.
Considering there isn't much knowledge of him actually getting into alot of street fights sure i'll take a crack at em.
You ovbiously never researched this. Chuck norress was world champion undefeated kick boxer of the time...and still today never defeated... but bruce leee wippped his *** !!!n!n!!!!
now you tell me! can you even survive 20 seconds with a death match with lee with 4 other opponents backing u up?
I don't think I could beat him the way I am now lol.
No, he has experience and better technique than me at this time but would like to fight him as an honour.
We'll use Lee at age 32. Had you been around, and in the prime of your training, do you think you could have beaten Lee in a street fight? I ask because bbqpit has informed me that he could have done it easily, and suggested that pretty much anyone with moderate skills that are MMA guys could do it as well. Even guys like Joe Lewis that suggest he wasn't a fighter and was a world champion himself, had the opportunity to test this, but never did. I'm not talking about a guy like Silva, I mean you. Could you have done it given the opportunity?
Nonsense, Lee was the man in his time. He was the champion, without which martial arts, including Brazilian Jiujitsu, boxing, and mixed martial arts, wouldn't even exist today without!
I dunno, we're talking about a guy who was fully prepared to gouge eyes and rupture testicles. A finger in your eyeball will ruin your day.
Beating B.L? Please. Don't be a keyboard warrior.
me
