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Tyson easily. Bruce got the speed obviously but his punches won't fade Tyson.
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Dude. Please add Rickson Gracie to that list.
People are mistaking the man, the myth, and his legend.
Bruce Lee is a LEGEND. I've been a huge fan since the age of 3 when my dad and his buddies thought it'd be funny to dress me up in a kung fu outfit andwatch me make a fool of myself.
But to say that he's the best fighter ever, or anywhere near that. Insanity!
He has influenced a few generations of traditional martial artists and mma practicioners. But to say anything much more than that is just crazy talk.
People are mistaking the man, the myth, and his legend.
Bruce Lee is a LEGEND. I've been a huge fan since the age of 3 when my dad and his buddies thought it'd be funny to dress me up in a kung fu outfit andwatch me make a fool of myself.
But to say that he's the best fighter ever, or anywhere near that. Insanity!
He has influenced a few generations of traditional martial artists and mma practicioners. But to say anything much more than that is just crazy talk.
elpablo21
Supporter
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Fam chewing that gum extra hard
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I can see where you're coming from compiling a list of MMA fighters that you think could handle Bruce. I don't agree, but I understand.
Mike Tyson is not a MMA fighter though.
Mike Tyson is not a MMA fighter though.
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Good list. I'm sure a lot would give Lee a run for his money.
I have watched K-1. A lot actually back a few years ago. Mike isnt trained to fight that tho. He doesnt have the leg movements to continuously dodge lower bodystrikes. Lee would have enough strength to do some damage against Tyson.
Regardless, strategy > strength. It's a rule so old, the bible tells it.
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you guys dont understand what wing chun is. When using this type martial art style you fight up close. All punches that are being swung by your opponent isalready anticipated. Once they find a opportunity to come in and attack they continuously attack until you are off balance.
start it at :40 you will understand what Lee is capable of doing.
you guys say that MMA> boxing
what makes you guys think Lee can not handle MMA. you guys say mike tyson is so good that there are better people before him and you guys continue to comparethe two but have explanation to prove he is better. Its like assuming michael jordan is better than wilt chamberlain. but facts are rules were different inchamberlains time. Or even Michael Jordan was too good that there was no one compared to michael jordans abilities. How would you guys prove that michaeljordan is better than wilt chamberlain. there are videos of michael jordan playing as well as wilt chamberlain stats. This is gonna keep going on because mostof you guys argue that Lee didnt fight professionally to prove himself. I do not know much about mike tyson. But someone list some names that tyson beat thatis capable of beating Lee
start it at :40 you will understand what Lee is capable of doing.
you guys say that MMA> boxing
what makes you guys think Lee can not handle MMA. you guys say mike tyson is so good that there are better people before him and you guys continue to comparethe two but have explanation to prove he is better. Its like assuming michael jordan is better than wilt chamberlain. but facts are rules were different inchamberlains time. Or even Michael Jordan was too good that there was no one compared to michael jordans abilities. How would you guys prove that michaeljordan is better than wilt chamberlain. there are videos of michael jordan playing as well as wilt chamberlain stats. This is gonna keep going on because mostof you guys argue that Lee didnt fight professionally to prove himself. I do not know much about mike tyson. But someone list some names that tyson beat thatis capable of beating Lee
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Iron Mike
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i dont see how you guys cant see that the fact bruce lee can not handle mma or K-1, lee can kick and punch he also boxed before so he knows wassup. Stopassuming he doesnt know how to fight one certain fighting style
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some people are so stupid... thining that just cause you're bigger or stronger means that you'll always win... it's not true!!
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Man, you guys are arguing good points, but I feel like it's not getting put together. I've trained boxing, traditional martial arts, and now mixedmartial arts. And I agree that boxing is a martial art (we train it in mma), but it is limited by its ruleset just like ANY martial art is limited by itsruleset (muay thai stand-up only, bjj only ground etc.)
People are saying that traditional martial artists are trained to use many forms of attack and are less limited than boxing is as a martial art. This istrue which would give Bruce Lee an advantage. However, Tyson has 2 major advantages over Bruce Lee and those are his weight and his experience. Yea yea,everyone keeps saying weight doesn't matter and skill trumps that etc. I agree to an extent but weight DOES matter. Would Bruce Lee murder some regular old300 pound knucklehead internet trash-talker who's never trained? Hell yes he would. Would his skills be able to overcome Mike Tyson's 80+ pound weightadvantage combined with his boxing skill/talent? I'm not so sure. Have you guys ever heard of a guy named BJ Penn? Aka The Prodigy? And, in my opinion, oneof the greatest martial artists ever (yea I said it). He still loses in the end to people only 20 pounds bigger than him (Machida, GSP, Matt Hughes) who arenot nearly as skilled as him in my opinion. 80 pounds is a LOT to overcome when fighting someone with even a LITTLE skill. Tyson was NOT slow, and I'm notsure Lee's speed advantage trumps Tyson's weight and strength advantage.
The second issue is experience. I would bet more money on someone like Diego Sanchez to take out Tyson in a no holds barred fight than Bruce Lee. He issomeone that has fought or sparred with professionally skilled fighters on a daily basis and had success taking them to the ground and submitting them. MaybeBruce Lee had a lot of experience, but with no documentation no one knows. Just because he studied many of forms of martial arts, I would not say he perfectedmany if any of them. It takes almost lifetime of constant training to get as proficient at a martial art as a Tyson (boxing), Rickson Gracie (BJJ), or Buakaw(Muay Thai). Was Lee physically a freak? Yes. But how many times did Lee actually ever fight a trained professional and get hit? Not as many times as Tysondid. That's a huge unknown to me. It is the reason Kung Fu is the laughing stock of the martial arts community these days. Many Chinese Kung Fu styles haveevolved over the time into myth and exaggerated stories about their accomplishments and techniques while never testing or forcing their pupils to test thesetechniques in actual functional combat. However, due to movies, stories, reports etc., they have managed to continue to keep people ignorant of theirshortcomings. If you look up the China-Thailand fights over the years, Muay Thai fighters destroyed Chinese Kung Fu Masters with ease. This link has tons ofinformation and facts/pictures by a Kung Fu practitioner who explains how Muay Thai has become a much more effective stand-up form in comparison to traditionalmartial arts over the years: http://crane.50megs.com/index6d.htm. Basically the bottom-line to his reasoningis that Muay Thai fighters FIGHT. Kung Fu, Karate, Tae Kwan Doe were so stuck in myth and "training" their bodies, that they never had any fightexperience. Their movements are not efficient and effective anymore since they were never tested in battle. I know Bruce Lee was against this very ideal, butat the same time, he did not fight for a living. He trained constantly between doing other jobs and may have even fought in the streets often before becomingfamous, but he did not fight professionally. This is why you cannot discount Tyson's REAL, DOCUMENTED experience in the ring.
Could Bruce Lee beat Tyson? No doubt, but without more information about how often Bruce REALLY fought, I would put my money on Tyson.
P.S. I'm tired of the ignorant people commenting on boxing in this thread. People act like Tyson is some brutish idiotic bull freak who just usesaggression and strength to beat his opponents. If you don't know, boxing is taught in mixed martial arts for its FOOTWORK (spacing, angles, timing) andhead movement which is comparable and superior to all other martial arts. Tyson's head movement and footwork to setup his punches was AMAZING. I am almost100% positive Lee would NOT beat Tyson standing unless he leg-kicked and ran for an hour. Especially with an 80 pound differential, even with Bruce Lee'sinsane recorded strength, I don't think he could do enough damage with his kicks to phase Tyson, and it would not be worth the risk he would put himself(off-balance/out of position) in by trying. The only way Lee wins is by taking Tyson to the ground. I'm not so sure he could do that…but I would nevercount him out.
P.P.S. What is with the comments about swift kick to the knees? ****. You guys ever watch a Rampage Jackson fight? Dude doesn't check a single leg kick(and these are) and manages to win the majority of the time. These are efficient Muay Thai leg kicks from people his size using the shin not bs Tae Kwan Doepatty kicks. You really think 1 Bruce Lee kick at 140 pounds to Tyson's leg would bring him down? And don't even say this crap about actually hittingthe knee unless Tyson's standing still as a statue for him. Try 20 before Tyson would be struggling to put weight on it. And every 20 of those times, hehas to worry about a 225 pounder coming forwards and throwing a monster hook at his chin to counter.
Sorry for the long-essay but I feel strongly about this topic. I feel Bruce Lee was actually a great martial artist and the founder of the idea of mixedmartial arts, but that does not mean he is as god-like in actual combat situations as people make him out to be. A professional boxer is not someone to betaken lightly, especially Mike Tyson. O yea, I do think trained martial artists at similar weight/skill levels would easily beat professional boxers because oftheir greater diversity of skills (kicks, clinching, grappling). Tyson would get owned by Fedor
Do I get a grade for this? I feel like I just turned in a college essay.
People are saying that traditional martial artists are trained to use many forms of attack and are less limited than boxing is as a martial art. This istrue which would give Bruce Lee an advantage. However, Tyson has 2 major advantages over Bruce Lee and those are his weight and his experience. Yea yea,everyone keeps saying weight doesn't matter and skill trumps that etc. I agree to an extent but weight DOES matter. Would Bruce Lee murder some regular old300 pound knucklehead internet trash-talker who's never trained? Hell yes he would. Would his skills be able to overcome Mike Tyson's 80+ pound weightadvantage combined with his boxing skill/talent? I'm not so sure. Have you guys ever heard of a guy named BJ Penn? Aka The Prodigy? And, in my opinion, oneof the greatest martial artists ever (yea I said it). He still loses in the end to people only 20 pounds bigger than him (Machida, GSP, Matt Hughes) who arenot nearly as skilled as him in my opinion. 80 pounds is a LOT to overcome when fighting someone with even a LITTLE skill. Tyson was NOT slow, and I'm notsure Lee's speed advantage trumps Tyson's weight and strength advantage.
The second issue is experience. I would bet more money on someone like Diego Sanchez to take out Tyson in a no holds barred fight than Bruce Lee. He issomeone that has fought or sparred with professionally skilled fighters on a daily basis and had success taking them to the ground and submitting them. MaybeBruce Lee had a lot of experience, but with no documentation no one knows. Just because he studied many of forms of martial arts, I would not say he perfectedmany if any of them. It takes almost lifetime of constant training to get as proficient at a martial art as a Tyson (boxing), Rickson Gracie (BJJ), or Buakaw(Muay Thai). Was Lee physically a freak? Yes. But how many times did Lee actually ever fight a trained professional and get hit? Not as many times as Tysondid. That's a huge unknown to me. It is the reason Kung Fu is the laughing stock of the martial arts community these days. Many Chinese Kung Fu styles haveevolved over the time into myth and exaggerated stories about their accomplishments and techniques while never testing or forcing their pupils to test thesetechniques in actual functional combat. However, due to movies, stories, reports etc., they have managed to continue to keep people ignorant of theirshortcomings. If you look up the China-Thailand fights over the years, Muay Thai fighters destroyed Chinese Kung Fu Masters with ease. This link has tons ofinformation and facts/pictures by a Kung Fu practitioner who explains how Muay Thai has become a much more effective stand-up form in comparison to traditionalmartial arts over the years: http://crane.50megs.com/index6d.htm. Basically the bottom-line to his reasoningis that Muay Thai fighters FIGHT. Kung Fu, Karate, Tae Kwan Doe were so stuck in myth and "training" their bodies, that they never had any fightexperience. Their movements are not efficient and effective anymore since they were never tested in battle. I know Bruce Lee was against this very ideal, butat the same time, he did not fight for a living. He trained constantly between doing other jobs and may have even fought in the streets often before becomingfamous, but he did not fight professionally. This is why you cannot discount Tyson's REAL, DOCUMENTED experience in the ring.
Could Bruce Lee beat Tyson? No doubt, but without more information about how often Bruce REALLY fought, I would put my money on Tyson.
P.S. I'm tired of the ignorant people commenting on boxing in this thread. People act like Tyson is some brutish idiotic bull freak who just usesaggression and strength to beat his opponents. If you don't know, boxing is taught in mixed martial arts for its FOOTWORK (spacing, angles, timing) andhead movement which is comparable and superior to all other martial arts. Tyson's head movement and footwork to setup his punches was AMAZING. I am almost100% positive Lee would NOT beat Tyson standing unless he leg-kicked and ran for an hour. Especially with an 80 pound differential, even with Bruce Lee'sinsane recorded strength, I don't think he could do enough damage with his kicks to phase Tyson, and it would not be worth the risk he would put himself(off-balance/out of position) in by trying. The only way Lee wins is by taking Tyson to the ground. I'm not so sure he could do that…but I would nevercount him out.
P.P.S. What is with the comments about swift kick to the knees? ****. You guys ever watch a Rampage Jackson fight? Dude doesn't check a single leg kick(and these are) and manages to win the majority of the time. These are efficient Muay Thai leg kicks from people his size using the shin not bs Tae Kwan Doepatty kicks. You really think 1 Bruce Lee kick at 140 pounds to Tyson's leg would bring him down? And don't even say this crap about actually hittingthe knee unless Tyson's standing still as a statue for him. Try 20 before Tyson would be struggling to put weight on it. And every 20 of those times, hehas to worry about a 225 pounder coming forwards and throwing a monster hook at his chin to counter.
Sorry for the long-essay but I feel strongly about this topic. I feel Bruce Lee was actually a great martial artist and the founder of the idea of mixedmartial arts, but that does not mean he is as god-like in actual combat situations as people make him out to be. A professional boxer is not someone to betaken lightly, especially Mike Tyson. O yea, I do think trained martial artists at similar weight/skill levels would easily beat professional boxers because oftheir greater diversity of skills (kicks, clinching, grappling). Tyson would get owned by Fedor
Do I get a grade for this? I feel like I just turned in a college essay.
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Mike.
tonytw0tone
Banned
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BL IMO
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Originally Posted by WuKillaBeez
Man, you guys are arguing good points, but I feel like it's not getting put together. I've trained boxing, traditional martial arts, and now mixed martial arts. And I agree that boxing is a martial art (we train it in mma), but it is limited by its ruleset just like ANY martial art is limited by its ruleset (muay thai stand-up only, bjj only ground etc.)
People are saying that traditional martial artists are trained to use many forms of attack and are less limited than boxing is as a martial art. This is true which would give Bruce Lee an advantage. However, Tyson has 2 major advantages over Bruce Lee and those are his weight and his experience. Yea yea, everyone keeps saying weight doesn't matter and skill trumps that etc. I agree to an extent but weight DOES matter. Would Bruce Lee murder some regular old 300 pound knucklehead internet trash-talker who's never trained? Hell yes he would. Would his skills be able to overcome Mike Tyson's 80+ pound weight advantage combined with his boxing skill/talent? I'm not so sure. Have you guys ever heard of a guy named BJ Penn? Aka The Prodigy? And, in my opinion, one of the greatest martial artists ever (yea I said it). He still loses in the end to people only 20 pounds bigger than him (Machida, GSP, Matt Hughes) who are not nearly as skilled as him in my opinion. 80 pounds is a LOT to overcome when fighting someone with even a LITTLE skill. Tyson was NOT slow, and I'm not sure Lee's speed advantage trumps Tyson's weight and strength advantage.
The second issue is experience. I would bet more money on someone like Diego Sanchez to take out Tyson in a no holds barred fight than Bruce Lee. He is someone that has fought or sparred with professionally skilled fighters on a daily basis and had success taking them to the ground and submitting them. Maybe Bruce Lee had a lot of experience, but with no documentation no one knows. Just because he studied many of forms of martial arts, I would not say he perfected many if any of them. It takes almost lifetime of constant training to get as proficient at a martial art as a Tyson (boxing), Rickson Gracie (BJJ), or Buakaw (Muay Thai). Was Lee physically a freak? Yes. But how many times did Lee actually ever fight a trained professional and get hit? Not as many times as Tyson did. That's a huge unknown to me. It is the reason Kung Fu is the laughing stock of the martial arts community these days. Many Chinese Kung Fu styles have evolved over the time into myth and exaggerated stories about their accomplishments and techniques while never testing or forcing their pupils to test these techniques in actual functional combat. However, due to movies, stories, reports etc., they have managed to continue to keep people ignorant of their shortcomings. If you look up the China-Thailand fights over the years, Muay Thai fighters destroyed Chinese Kung Fu Masters with ease. This link has tons of information and facts/pictures by a Kung Fu practitioner who explains how Muay Thai has become a much more effective stand-up form in comparison to traditional martial arts over the years: http://crane.50megs.com/index6d.htm. Basically the bottom-line to his reasoning is that Muay Thai fighters FIGHT. Kung Fu, Karate, Tae Kwan Doe were so stuck in myth and "training" their bodies, that they never had any fight experience. Their movements are not efficient and effective anymore since they were never tested in battle. I know Bruce Lee was against this very ideal, but at the same time, he did not fight for a living. He trained constantly between doing other jobs and may have even fought in the streets often before becoming famous, but he did not fight professionally. This is why you cannot discount Tyson's REAL, DOCUMENTED experience in the ring.
Could Bruce Lee beat Tyson? No doubt, but without more information about how often Bruce REALLY fought, I would put my money on Tyson.
P.S. I'm tired of the ignorant people commenting on boxing in this thread. People act like Tyson is some brutish idiotic bull freak who just uses aggression and strength to beat his opponents. If you don't know, boxing is taught in mixed martial arts for its FOOTWORK (spacing, angles, timing) and head movement which is comparable and superior to all other martial arts. Tyson's head movement and footwork to setup his punches was AMAZING. I am almost 100% positive Lee would NOT beat Tyson standing unless he leg-kicked and ran for an hour. Especially with an 80 pound differential, even with Bruce Lee's insane recorded strength, I don't think he could do enough damage with his kicks to phase Tyson, and it would not be worth the risk he would put himself (off-balance/out of position) in by trying. The only way Lee wins is by taking Tyson to the ground. I'm not so sure he could do that…but I would never count him out.
P.P.S. What is with the comments about swift kick to the knees? ****. You guys ever watch a Rampage Jackson fight? Dude doesn't check a single leg kick (and these are) and manages to win the majority of the time. These are efficient Muay Thai leg kicks from people his size using the shin not bs Tae Kwan Doe patty kicks. You really think 1 Bruce Lee kick at 140 pounds to Tyson's leg would bring him down? And don't even say this crap about actually hitting the knee unless Tyson's standing still as a statue for him. Try 20 before Tyson would be struggling to put weight on it. And every 20 of those times, he has to worry about a 225 pounder coming forwards and throwing a monster hook at his chin to counter.
Sorry for the long-essay but I feel strongly about this topic. I feel Bruce Lee was actually a great martial artist and the founder of the idea of mixed martial arts, but that does not mean he is as god-like in actual combat situations as people make him out to be. A professional boxer is not someone to be taken lightly, especially Mike Tyson. O yea, I do think trained martial artists at similar weight/skill levels would easily beat professional boxers because of their greater diversity of skills (kicks, clinching, grappling). Tyson would get owned by Fedor
Do I get a grade for this? I feel like I just turned in a college essay.
stopped reading after that comment
trueshotaura
Banned
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What you guys don't seem to notice is an MMA fighter has a good 30 year head start on knowledge. Do you honestly think Bruce Lee could find loop holes inBJJ that quickly when people dedicate their lives to it? Also Remy or Aerts would tool Lee. You guys are waaay too fascinated with pointless stats. Ron vanClief had what 10 BBs? now where is he?
oh yeah another man!
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Do you think Faber would walk through Leonard Garcia in his home state of Texas the way Brown did?
On June 7th Brown will prove to you and every other Uriah Jocker that it wasn't luck watch the fight again and you'll see that Faber never had theupper hand. He gambled and lost.
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aerts is a k1 fighter and there's a difference between k1 and mma, and no aerts is too slow to even come close to bruce lee
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goku
lawdog1
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Interesting thread. After at least scanning through all 24 pages, I have to say I'm more persuaded by the pro Bruce Lee side. In particular, the commentsfrom people who have personal experience with both boxing and martial arts have convinced that a highly trained martial artist should be able to beat a trainedboxer in a no rules fight. I'm even dubious about some of the claims about the stuff Bruce Lee could do, but I think there's enough actual evidence outthere to show that he was pretty incredible.
All I know for sure is that it is a real shame he died when he did. Too early.
All I know for sure is that it is a real shame he died when he did. Too early.
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trueshotaura
Banned
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Originally Posted by 10Sakuragi
i wanna learn wing chun lol. some fast hands they got, and that punched could def destroy ur organs
nobody in their right mind would fight with their hands so low.
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^^^yea these dudes supporting mike don't even know, and bruce lee's strength was NUTS. Mike wouldn't know what hit him. Peep this exercise thatBruce used for strength training
At my strongest, (and I was benching a good 345 at 5'10 220 )i wasn't able to do that exercise with more than about 110 pounds on a straight bar overhanded more than a few times, I read somewhere that dude was doing it with 135-185 pounds and he was about 70 or 80 pounds less than me and 3 or 4 inchesshorter, think its easy? Try it with about 50 pounds over handed, the whole point is to put that straight bar out slowly, pause, hold it, and then bring it in.This dude was doing it with more than his total body weight! NUTS.
At my strongest, (and I was benching a good 345 at 5'10 220 )i wasn't able to do that exercise with more than about 110 pounds on a straight bar overhanded more than a few times, I read somewhere that dude was doing it with 135-185 pounds and he was about 70 or 80 pounds less than me and 3 or 4 inchesshorter, think its easy? Try it with about 50 pounds over handed, the whole point is to put that straight bar out slowly, pause, hold it, and then bring it in.This dude was doing it with more than his total body weight! NUTS.
trueshotaura
Banned
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Fedor does that ^^
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at first, I thought no way these guys could put this into action with the small amount of mass the men had but after he hit the host with not even a fullextension AND pad . gg especially with speed of the !%+* sapien named Bruce Lee
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