Bruce Lee?

[Nevinyrral]

Thank you all for your replies. They are all solid posts.

My view of Lee is that he was outstanding martial artist, and that stories about him are sometimes a bit exagerated.

[bushido_man96]

In today's world, Bruce might have done very well in his weight class in the UFC- IF he'd gotten more into the ground game. But that MMA exists at all is in part due to his influence. I think his contribution eclipses whether he would have been a top contender in ring sports.

He did actually study a little bit of Judo; I think he trained some with Gene LeBell, but I might be off on that. Had he been aware of BJJ, he probably would have looked into it, at the very least.

Other things to consider is the weight class he would have fought in. I think he usually walked around at about 145 lbs, and with cutting that takes place, who knows how light he would have fought. And he was so frickin' freaky fast, he would have probably been one of the heaviest handed lightweights around.

Of course, this is just me spit-balling and speculating.

[Fat Cobra]

Bruce Lee was absolutely the most influential martial artist, in my opinion, ever. His ability to transcend Eastern and Western culture could not have been accomplished by anyone else at that time. His philosophy and maxims are timeless.

That being said, no one is unbeatable. I have found old, unedited video evidence that even the great Bruce Lee can be beat (under the right conditions):

[pers]

Blimey! Brad Pitt has not aged since the early 70s! 😍

[rhilllakefield]

He was definitely a legitimate martial artist and a pioneer.

JKD itself was essentially the forerunner to modern MMA.

Bruce Lee was hot headed, and was apparently a terrible driver! This is straight from Guro Dan Inosanto.

As with anything, things have modernized. We'll never know how he would have done against some modern fighters.

He was so calculated, and so clinical, I'd bet he would have been very successful at staying relevant.