FortuneCookie posted... Chuck Norris, who was a multiple time champion in full contact karate tournaments, said matter-of-factly that Bruce Lee would have won had they ever fought. So did pretty much anyone else who knew him. The people saying that his offense was weak or that he wasn't legit are the people who didn't know him in real life.
Would Bruce have been an unstoppable opponent in the octagon? In his weight class, sure. Do they even have a weight class for people who are 135 lb.? The thing of it is, I don't think Bruce Lee wanted to hurt people. Being the fastest gun in the west isn't the same as wanting to gun down everyone to prove it.
He had a lucrative film career. There wouldn't have been much of a point to step down to become a competitive athlete, risk injury, and make money off of hurting other people when he could put on exhibitions of his ability and still make bank without getting hurt or hurting others.
There's footage of a person challenging Bruce Lee to a fight. (Unless you want to say it's staged.) Bruce fakes a punch, then opponent takes the bait and tries to block it - leaving himself wide open to a tremendous kick to the midsection. Bruce never throws the kick. It's enough to know that he had that guy beat. That's the kind of guy I think Bruce was. He wasn't going to kick you in the stomach or punch you in the face just to prove that he could.
135 is bantamweight max/featherweight minimum. Max holloway would starch Bruce lee easy.