Could Bruce Lee Survive the Octagon?
As a teenager in the late Eighties, my friends and I were fascinated by two very different fighters.
One was a lightning quick, charismatic martial arts expert who kicked some serious ass on grainy pirate videos we watched on weekends. The other was a fearsome, African-American boxer whose barely contained rage in the ring turned grown men into gibbering wrecks.
Bruce Lee and Mike Tyson were our heroes, and our late night conversations on the pair almost always turned to: “Who would win a fight between them?”
One punch from Tyson would kill Lee, a pal would say. Iron Mike would never get near him, another would answer. Lee would tire Tyson out and then “one-inch punch” him, I’d add, not knowing what one was but thinking it sounded cool.
Of course, we never reached a satisfactory conclusion but that wasn’t the point. Debating the pros and cons of each fighter bought them to life in the pre-YouTube days and added to their cult status.
While Tyson’s legacy has become somewhat tarnished by Buster Douglas, Desiree Washington and The Hangover movie franchise, Lee’s untimely death allows us to remember a man in his prime. We never got to see an old Lee smashing boards on Jay Leno’s chest or shilling vitamin supplements during UFC ad breaks, so his legend endures intact.
Lee is still relevant to the MMA fan today, which begs another question: “Would Bruce Lee survive in The Octagon?”
Lee would be more than capable of holding his own in a modern day MMA fight – his deftness and celerity of movement around The Octagon, combined with the strength and speed of his blows, would be a match for anyone in his weight class. Way ahead of his time on fitness and conditioning, stamina would not be an issue either.
The biggest problem for Lee would be if he were brought to the ground. MMA fighters would know the way to beat him would be to force him to the mat, neutralise his speed and pound away on his slight frame. With no ground game in his arsenal, it would be Lee’s MMA Achilles heel.
However, with an indomitable will and a dedication to his craft, who’s to say Lee couldn’t have been able to develop the necessary game to prevent him from getting into dangerous situations.
Furthermore, if you take “survive” to mean being given the opportunity to build a career, with big-name bouts and an accompanying marketing machine? Forgetaboutit…
Can you imagine Bruce Lee in the hands of Dana White?
He’d be bigger than Christmas.
Paul Hansford is the co-author of The Last Word - Mixed Martial Arts, which has just been released by Germinal Press and is available on this website, all good bookstores and as an eBook.
Comments
On Monday, January Jan 2012 Sumo said...
“There's no way Bruce Lee, if he was alive, would be part of the UFC circus. He was always his own man and would never associate with White and his cronies. ”
On Tuesday, January Jan 2012 Granite said...
“Unconcerned about whether Bruce Lee could make it in the octagon. What's more exciting is the new Yip Man movie coming out. Now there was a man well ahead of his time.”
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