Bruce Lee!!!

[bobby rivers]

i def do believe that bruce lees concept was def mma do i believe he was the best fighter that ever lived uhm b4 like 1994 def but if you were to take bruce lee like he was with no extra training and take im thinking he woulda been like a welterweight or middleweight so take gsp or a top middleweight i believe bruce would not be considered the best

Lightweight tops, but I'm thinkin lower. And can you imagine what a Lee/Aldo striking match would be like?

[Emir Mehovic]

dude that would be insane

[Julian]

Thats all I have to say

[Julian]

Thats all I have to say

[Julian]

twice apparently lol

[John Roderick]

At the time of Sijo Lee's death, he was WALKING at about 135-140 lbs. 147 tops. Earlier, he was about 150, prior to intensifying his workouts. As Nelson stated, Sijo was a workaholic and was working insane hours prior to his death. He was involved in every aspect of his Hong Kong films, from editing, scripting, directing, and fight choreagraphy. Not to mention his own training.
As far as these debates over his competion (or lack thereof) or where he would be in modern MMA; we have to understand his premise and point to training-REAL fighting in self-defense. Period. He would probably love MMA and see the merits, but he was not concerned with points or winning rounds, but self-defense aspects.
Now onto some specifics:
Sijo practiced amateur Boxing in his youth and did enter at least one tournament, winning in his weight category I believe.
He also practiced and competed in fencing, which is where he got a lot of inspiration for his footwork and "strong hand forward" thinking.
He studied Wing Chun Gung Fu from when he was quite young. He also ran with street gangs in Hong Kong (which are no joke) and was in MANY street fights, often fighting with a chain from an old style toilet he kept hidden by wrapping around his waist. He would use it as a whip, or distance weapon. The gangs often fought each other, and had one on one challenge matches on the rooftops of Hong Kong.
Bruce Lee studied many diverse styles. He was doing an extensive amount of wrestling, Judo, and Ju Jutsu at the time of his death. He had a great deal of respect for grappling in general. He was often quoted as saying that a high school or college wrestler with a little boxing would beat any martial artist of his time.
From first person accounts that I have been involved in, (reputable Bruce Lee student accounts) Sijo Lee had incredible hand-eye coordination, hand and footspeed, balance, and tremendous power. The closest people that I have seen today, possesing many or all of his attributes are Manny Pacquiao and Kru Phil Nurse. Both of them are about the same size, and possess the same power, speed, and balance. Phil is unbelievable to watch and train with. He's the closest "martial art" person living that has the same attributes.
We can consider Sijo Bruce Lee as the Father of modern MMA in the sense that he showed the reality, as the Gracie's did with their Gracie Challenge and starting the UFC, that if you have the Hubris to think studying only one discipline is enough, then you are sadly mistaken. As we've seen in each evolutionary step of MMA: if you are only good in one range, you'll only go so far. You MUST have a solid understanding of ALL ranges of combat: weapons, striking, grappling, in order to be truly a martial artist. All ancient martial arts knew this, and worked on various ranges. In Modern Times we've forgotten this.
So... YES-Bruce Lee is the "Godfather" of MMA, but he was so much more than that.

[chronic_jiujitsu]

my guess would be if you took him in his prime and put him against MMA fighters of today, he would probably lose most of the time. (in an MMA fight, not street fight). compared to anyone back then he was WAY ahead of his time.. you would see anything from wing chun, to tae kwon do, to pulling off armbars in one movie.. and i would guess if he were born in this era he would definitely be a dominate force in MMA. Because he seemed to always be at the top of his game in every aspect of fighting. The only reason i think he would lose as he was in his prime was because back then his knowledge was limited. because fighting and all the aspects of it have evolved since then. but if he were born now and had that same mindset of learning every practical move from every martial arts, and then repping them thousands of times a piece until they were perfected... man, that mentality + todays understanding of fighting.. and thats one freak of an MMA fighter.

[Emir Mehovic]

hmmmmm i wonder if any of the gracies got in a confrentation with bruce...since they both held open fighting challenges hmmm

[Luis Acherbo]

i think if they had he would of practiced with them im sure the ju jitsu he studied japanese style

[JeffRace727]

bruce had an allergic reaction to a pain medication and it killed him.
Godfather of MMA, great person, and philosopher. He made martial arts what they are today.