Bruce Lee could NOT fight,, and this did NOT happen… 

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Bruce's biggest contribution to martial arts was he was one of the first to say hey in real life this shit isn't going to work. He pretty much said someone who studied wrestling and boxing for a year could beat a black belt in traditional martial arts. I think he had a firm understanding that martial arts and fighting were not mutually exclusive and that's why in my opinion, he is one of the original philosophers MMA even if he wasn't aware of it. The things he was starting to figure out then, we take for granted today when comes to understanding fighting vs martial arts.

“Bruce, you are an immigrant from Hong Kong, I’m a gangster from America” 🇺🇸

Getting accidentally kneed in the groin is common when rolling. I have been accidentally eye-poked, and all kinds of other things like that. Just kept on rolling. What did stop me dead in my tracks: 5 point palm exploding heart technique, kamehameha blast, hodoken fireball, and the worst was when the guy turned into a magical dragon, bit me in half while shouting “fatality!”

Look Bruce Lee stated himself that a real fight is not like the fights in his movies, he said that a real fight is not choreographed and is not predictable as it is in the movies!!! He deserves credit for applying elements from boxing 🥊, Muay Thai, wrestling, judo 🥋, jui-jitsu, etc If it wasn’t for The UFC and The Gracie family, we would still be guessing what really is effective and what is not, luckily our generation knows what really works and what does not!!! That being said, Bruce no doubt would have loved Vale Tudo and MMA, he’s a legend, he was into fitness and not just a couch 🛋 potato 🥔 he lived and breathed Martial Arts 🥋!!! I will leave it at that….

At this point it’s irrelevent whether or not Bruce Lee could fight. What’s important is the impact he had on martial arts and on people all over the world. He had a special kind of charisma.

Didn't think it was possible Cheal you could get any funnier but dang this made giggle all the way through. "Why would you go into a dojo n kick somebody in nuts, why?"

Chuck norris himself has said bruce was the real deal and would have been dangerous in competition

I raised 2 wrestlers. There are levels in wrestling to, but these are ones that wrestle in college. It is something to witness national level and college wrestlers train. Why so many do well in MMA.

Chael's tone in this video made me laugh so hard "whyyyy? Why would you do thaaaat" 😂🤣 I'm dead

I don't know why, but when I saw Chael holding those knives I was genuinely concerned for his safety.

I'm not the Tony who spoke to you before, but I have a genuine "wrestlers walked into a dojo" story. I lived in an area of Ireland that, in terms of martial arts, only had a Japanese jujitsu class - nothing else. Two Lithuanian guys were bored enough to turn up to our class. After a few weeks, they stopped turning up. They consistently submitted everyone in that class, every time they grappled with them. It really wasn't a challenge for them.

Since listening to Chael, I've become a Lord, turned my crotch-pocket underwear game to 1000, and now, a Japanese knife master.

Joe Rogan: “Do you really believe that Bruce thought that a bus was a dragon?” Chael: “That happened…..”

To Chaels point, the other day I was rolling with my teammate and he accidentally kneed me hard in the taint and I still retained guard lol

I think Chael wants to put down Jeet Kune do, which was not envisioned as a martial art but as a self-defense skill. In the case you're attacked and fight for dear life, you want to maximize the damage and get away asap. That's why skill focuses on groin shots and eye pokes, they do maximum damage compared to strength invested and you can use them even if you are much smaller, or as woman against a man. This was never envisioned as a competitive skill or sport.

I told my wife about my time in kids and high school wrestling, about the work and weight cutting and everything. She asked me if it was fun. I honestly never once thought about that. I guess it was fun when you got your hand raised and then got to eat something.

Bas Rutten had a funny story where he gave some Dim Mak guys permission to knock him out with one of the phony techniques and they wouldn't do it lmao. Wonder why.

Chael, you would not be where you are today without the awareness Bruce Lee brought to martial arts. That’s why he deserves credit.

I am a huge Bruce Lee fan since my childhood days but then I grew older and matured and subsequently came to the conclusion that Bruce Lee was nothing but a martial arts enthusiast, teacher, trainer, philosopher, artist and an actor but not a real FIGHTER. He would be demolished against any amateur in boxing and in mma. Even though I loved and love his fighting style still to this day.

Man, Chael can ramble 😂

According to Chuck Norris Jim Kelley and Joe Lewis Bruce Lee was the real deal. His speed and timing was extraordinary.

Chael does not know what the hell he is talking about!! He use to say “Karate Sucks” yet a Karate guy retired his ass!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Bruce Lee isn't really known for fighting he is known for his impactful And revolutionary way action movies were Choreographed He changed fight scenes in films honestly it wouldn't be a stretch to say he's the father of the genre that paved the way for fight films second to that was his Philosophy and his unmatched speed and Reflexes he displayed one stage Is he a fighter yes although more of an artist But can he beat UFC fighters or actually cage fighters today most likely not Of course we can't say it's impossible I'm sure he's do well But he's no Demetrius Johnson

Love you Chael, but I don't get what the point of this video is except to diss Bruce Lee which you always do then throw in a back handed compliment. Bruce didn't believe in Dim Mak or "secret" techniques. But you're knocking a guy who would target the groin and eyes, call 911 if someone attacks your groin wtf? That's the smart thing to do when your life is on the line. And we've all seen how you UFC fighters react when you get kicked in the groin or eye poked. This isn't a finishing move and Bruce never claimed it to be. Let's get this out of the way, how would Bruce Lee hold up in the UFC today? He'd get crushed, as he should with the evolution of MMA specifically BJJ. But to say Bruce wasn't an amazing fighter during his time is simply ignorant. Bruce was a street fighter (with endless personal accounts of those who lived during his time) with the primary target being the eyes or groin followed by a straight blast per accounts of those who knew him. Look at those champions during his time who spared and learned from him. What was Bruce supposed to do during his time, join a Karate tournament and play off points? No disrespect, but one could argue it takes more balls to do a street fight then a UFC fight with a referee to stop it. As you mentioned, he revolutionized martial arts during his time to cross train and do away with silly/outdated techniques which weren't applicable in real fights. Bruce was ahead of his time, and he backed it up with what he could do during his time with street fights. Even if UFC was around during his time he wouldn't because of the restrictions (no eye pokes, no groin shots, no headbutts, no biting) etc all which are techniques one SHOULD utilize in a real fight. I think the point that guy you talked to was making was the difference between sport and street fighting. Oh you want to pull me into your guard? Assuming I don't have a knife or gun then yes I will revert to a groin shot or eye gauge to aid in my escape, so what?

There was no UFC back in the 70's no legal full contact organizations with sanctioned bouts, Chuck Norris titles were no contact to the face, that was a different era and different times which paved the way for modern day martial artist to shine. We're all standing on the shoulder of giants, in anything, like comparing Roger Federer to Rod Laver, how could Bruce compete when there was no legal way to do so, and after the man is long dead and gone Chael Sonnen is knocking him and can't defend himself. The fact he's still being talked about is a testament to his legacy and despite Chael and Hollywood trying to tarnish it, it has stood the test of time. God bless this man for inspiring so many people. Will anyone be talking about Chael Sonnen in 50 years.

Bruce was the first big name to combine multiple martial arts disciplines in practice. Very ahead of his time, it’s all respect. Multiple fighters cited him for inspiration. Anderson Silva is probably one of the most well known.

I couldn't keep a straight face through this one, Coach! And believe me, I tried. But the visual of you beating the Holy Sh+t outa' that dude holding the Pool stick got me!!! 😂😂😂 (BAD GUY INC ✊🐐🎱)

Chael delivering a groin shot to Tone.

Also Joe Lewis The Muhammad Ali of Karate is a true representative of Bruce Lee’s fighting skills.

I’m doing Karate with my kids. I wrestled in high school. Karate is fun. Wrestling is not. I have to be careful not to hurt people who do karate and I’m new at it. That said, some of the guys there cross train other martial arts and are serious about it so they are certainly capable of doing damage. I personally would take a random room full of wrestlers much more seriously than I would take the nice folks in a random dojo when it came to a real fight.

Chaels whinny voice is so good

Some people fight for fun, some for exercise, some for technical prowess, some for a spiritual perspective, and some because they want to find the best way to kick someone’s ass. I believe in internal benefits for training. I’m not a fighter for money. I do martial arts for discipline and meditation. It’s all about perspective, Chael. Any martial artist worth their salt will admit a good MMA fighter will kick anyones ass, but this isn’t the reason everyone trains. Guys like yourself make money, so you needed to do what you had to. An accountant that likes a philosophy of martial art is just having fun and doesn’t care about kicking ass. I know it’s hard for you super competitive guys have a hard time understanding this. For me it’s a meditation of purpose

Bruce wasn’t a fighter. But, I think he would’ve done well today i thats what he wanted to do. He was athletic, hard working, smart, innovative, he knew how to get lean and build muscle, he knew how to throw a kick and had good speed and agility. But, yeah, he wasn’t a competitive fighter, he was a movie star and a philosopher. His movies had a massive impact on getting people to want to be fighters.

Chael, the point is that the person who figured out to combine the different arts, had to have a mind for FIGHTING. There is absolutely no way he couldn't fight a lick.

Just for the fact that Bruce Lee came out with the philosophy of mixed martial arts… "Be Water 💦 my friend, be FORMLESS" already connotes he was already way ahead of his time in fighting. It doesn’t matter whether he fought in a competition or not. That wasn’t simply his life’s path. He chose ACTING for a career & excelled in it. If he had equally chosen fighting, he’d still excel in it & would’ve been an undisputed champion. He had the mindset & work ethic to be dominant in any realm of human endeavor he chose to. Ultimately, I do believe he wouldn’t teach what he wouldn’t do. He clearly walked the talk.

Bruce Lee was a fighter in the same sense as Peter Cushing was a vampire killer

"Why are they touching their groin in any fashion?" Classic Chael.

This and DB Cooper is all I need in my life.

Jeet Kun Do is a highly esoteric art that I put to work in my everyday life with absolutely fluid performance constantly like water.

Every Kung Fu school I was ever at we trained so hard we crawled out of there because our legs were like rubber...no showers. Just a changing area for the guys and another one for the girls. Granted, this was in Chicago...and it seems Kung Fu there was a whole different animal, than what people "Claim" Kung Fu is today. Most all schools had a full contact fight team.

What's important is that he inspired all of us.

He looked good on Film to Me.. & he was certified by every "World Champion" he ever Sparred with. Legend

“He thought that was cool, that he could go into a gym, and get thrown around by an 83 year old woman” 😂😂😂😂

Bruce Lee is the real goat of mma 🥰

I'm not sure what dojos Chael is referring to, but any I've trained at result in my gi being drenched in sweat. One of the biggest sins at the dojo (Shorin Ryu and Shotokan karate) was NOT to launder your gi between workouts.

I’m not a fighter but I enjoy watching combat sports. Bruce Lee was an actor, not a fighter. Well said.

Bruce Lee would be the best WWE champion of all-time

I'm totally sold on this idea. Thanks Uncle Chael.

Bruce perfected the "Art of fighting without fighting".. Chael can talk all he wants but will never know what Bruce was truly capable of because he never had a chance to square off against him.. So all the running of his mouth is just his opinion.. Speculation is not proof.. Chael is a legend in his own mind...🤣

Bruce Lee is a genius, and his ideas for striking were revolutionary

I needed to put on subtitles when Lord Uncle Chael was talking about the pool cue game 😅

“You made it up to prove a point” 😂😂😂

Bruce Lee - “Wannanow”

GG is a respectful acknowledgement of a 'good game' session in a competitive video game but can be applied to any sporting situation where there is friendly competition.

OMGl. I think I'm in luv with this guy. I almost started weeping when he got to the ethics and efficacy of Dripping Sweat equity. I'm with you 100, sir. So glad to hear it from someone else other than me.

gg means "good game", which is a smug and sarcastic way to suggest the game is over and you have lost.

Bruce Lee is a legend.

One thing I would give to bruce lee is that his impact is still felt up to this day which is freaking crazy.

This just had to contain the Kamikoto add

Whether he could fight or not he knew about fighting, he was one of the first to realize and publish publicly that one shouldn't be limited to one martial art or style, he was aware of the striking, grappling and wrestling arts, and their different variations and forms, and to develop and be a complete fighter you couldn't stay within the boundaries of a single style of combat, he also studied and explored the most effective martial arts and their best techniques, he was way ahead of it's time, he certainly wasn't a traditional martial artist, he was employing a lot of western elements, techniques and concepts in his fighting style and in his strength and conditioning training. It's not his fault some of his students or people claiming to come from his lineage started mixing complete bs martial arts and calling it JKD after he died. He also employed full contact full armored training, which now is popular in self defense circles, guys like Dave Leduc have succesfully used Bruce Lee's 5 ways of attack in combat. He's shown ridiculous speed and dexterity in the martial arts. He was doing oblique kicks to the legs way before Jon Jones used them succesfully in MMA. I could go on and on, the point is he knew and he knew before a lot of people knew.

Didn’t think people would actually have Chael back after this but damn was I wrong

For those that don't do MMA for any other reason than to protect themselves from perhaps death.... they learn something from some hellbound masters who have had to go to court for for self defence manslaughter. Those men and women learn that some things reduce a bully into submission. Groin, wtf? If its you or someone else when you defend yourself against bullies, some of these Sensei's aren't full of shit. They teach how to STAY ALIVE against an opponent that wishes ill on you. Yeah, if you are jacked and know many martial arts it might be harder but why not try to stop yoursself being killed. Or go unconscious. You can talk sense into ppl from a rear naked choke. You can render a persons mind not 100% from a throat strike (though I have seen ppl take the heaviest throat hits and still are just annoyed). If its your life on the line and self defence makes a term that is self evident, why not use it to the most extreme level to keep yourself alive? Or did I miss the point?

Bruce Lee, after he shot Enter the Dragon, weighed 125lbs

🤣🤣🤣 we need uncle Chael to 1 of these a day... Just getting at someone...poor Tone or Tony🤔

Absolute gold. Thank you Lord Chael

There’s a lot to be said for training in the gym vs bare knuckle fighting “You gotta hate the man in front of you. Hate from your eyes to your heels and never ever stop hitting them” - Lenny McLean That’s scary - he was a bare buckle champion and would stuff you if you crossed him. That’s not art - all martial

It's baffling how many people desperately hang on to Bruce being a great fighter. It's embarrassingly rampant.

Now one thing I didn’t mention in that video was even after the finished with The Green Hornet, Bruce continued to train with Judo Gene LeBell for about a year, and Gene eventually awarded Bruce with the rank of Shodan, or a 1st degree black belt.

I remember in my teens buying a couple of those books that had notes and drawings by Bruce that had been compiled by an editor posthumously into a set of books, and one book in particular focused on how Bruce saw fighting, as in street fighting. There were diagrams of eye gauges, groin strike, primitive choke holds. I remember reading lines that Bruce Lee wrote that went something like (i'm not directly quoting as i can't remember), "If you are going to fight in the street, you best be prepared to do whatever it takes to win the fight, if that means biting the nose off of your opponent, then so be it. But the point is not the pre-planning, but the will and intention to do harm and to not lose, if a guy is that besotted and driven, he will likely bite the nose off his opponent even if he is not as skilful." Something like that. Anyway the guy had a mentality of a fighter first, a martial artist second to back up his street fighting (there's plenty of sources backing up his prior experiences of street fighting in Hong Kong). But I think he would likely lose to any skilled bigger heavyweight in most other effective disciplines, but i'm sure he could mollywhop the average 6ft3 heavyset powerful burley truck driver who felt he could manhandle Bruce.

I wouldn’t say He couldn’t fight, but some of his Fans are just being completely delusional. Acting like he is the Goat of Combat Sports without any Professional Fight or saying, that he could beat Heavyweight Champions without showing anything to prove it.

Interesting switch there Lord Uncle Chael! You go from Bruce Lee to modern dojos. Modern dojos teach technique. Conditioning is at your own leisure. Bruce was well conditioned, combined techniques and dedicated his whole life to the practice.

Calling Judo Gene Lebell a fake is wild af

because martial arts is not about fighting, he was just using it to push his bodies highest potential, not to fight. the golden rule that martial arts masters say, we learn martial arts so that we do not have to fight, self control which is inner strength. it is called self defense not fight people. its like exercising a whole lot to see how strong we become, see our body's limit, he was never about fighting that is the normal man's ego type of thinking, it is a dance, it strengthening the mind and body so that you can see that the mind is the body, mind power expressing through the physical body, an art. you gain wisdom by having that experience, mind body connection just like yoga is the same thing. knowledge, wisdom, health, wellness, strengthen mind then body, and spirit. inner union, a real true martial artist, not because you can be violent, because of your grace.

It was a different time and I don’t think it is fair to compare him to modern athletes. However I get your point that it is more about his philosophy than anything. HOWEVER he could fight very well! He could punch and kick very fast, he had great movement and strength and he was in great shape for the time. You can’t dispute how good he was at punching, kicking and moving.

Chael "Bruce Lee ain't sh!t" Sonnen

I think that Bruce Lee was one of the best fighters for his time. He has this reputation for being the best of all time and that is simply not true. The reality is there is always the evolution of training. The next generation is always going to have more experience to learn from. If Bruce Lee were alive today and he decided he wanted to step into the cage with his skill set as it were he would get destroyed. The thing that separates Bruce from other people is that he would be willing to train and learn to be the best that he could. He had the understanding that you need to be constantly evolving to keep up with everyone else.

Honestly, man, Lee taught martial arts specifically for self defence purposes, not for competition combat based _sports_ . You’re taught groin strikes and so forth in case someone like a prime Iron Mike Tyson approaches you in the park one day, and is going to punch your head off your shoulders. Duelling back and forth with an Iron Mike is pointless and would get you killed. Secondly, the outside the ring is very different because you can use the environment to your advantage, or it could be disadvantageous. You may have more space so he can’t get you in striking distance; If you’re backed up against a wall or a tree, you can evade a punch and make him hit the wall or tree, car, etc You can use barriers such as park benches or streetlights, etc, to prevent him unloading on you or grabbing you; you can pick up bricks, bottles, throw dust or sand in his eyes; you can use his clothes as a weapon against him by pulling his t shirt over his head to blind him, then strangle him with it; you can use the heel or toe cap of your shoes to maximise damage with foot stomps or kicks to shins, etc. You can wrap your jacket around your arm or use your rucksack to shield yourself from a knife attack. The possibilities outside of the ring are endless, so when knuckleheads seem to think that a UFC competition is equal to a no holds barred street fight / attack scenario, and you can’t fight unless you’ve competed, then I can’t help but laugh.

If Tone only knew the number of dojos Chael has bodied with logic and rhetorical devices.

Calling a guy 'garbage' who has done so much for your sport and so many legends in the world admire him thats very disrespectful if u have an opinion its fine but there are other ways of expressing it. I like u as a fighter chael but its not always cool and funny to trash talk.

Much of what Chael said is true but even before UFC guys started acting in movies Dolph Lundgren was actually a European karate champion. That might not mean much to an american but I imagine you have to train quite a bit to do that.

I can agree from both sides but listen to this honestly my father was training in Japan doing shotokan in the 80s and he told me that the students would go and watch The Green Hornet because they were impressed with Katos abilities and kicks so that must mean something. I'm not gonna say he was the best of all time but he may have been the best at that time.

@ 12:43, about Needing to call 911, Masterful! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

The mma gym i went to, it wasnt uncommon to see new comers throw up, the training sessions were only 1 hour but we were drenched and crawling out of the gym at the end

At the end of the day Bruce Lee is legendary ... you know how hard is this Art? from creative of all elements ...

Bruce Lee was a martial arts performer. He didn’t rise through the ranks in real competitions. What he brought to the table was breaking free from all of the numerous styles and their limitations. That approach combined with incredible flexibility and strength, made his choreographed fights amazing to watch. But he wasn’t a superhero or the world’s best fighter.

“Why would they touch their groin in any fashion”, broke me 😂

Chael back at it again with the clickbait. The real American Gangster

As someone who fell for the whole TMA B.S. when I was young I have to agree with the attitude that the uninitiated have: If I learn a few "secret moves" from this KF Master I'll be a killing machine. Sparring once with someone in MMA will cure you of that pretty quick. Having said that, I was in L.A. a lot in the 80s, running around in MA circles and knew a few people who either sparred or had friends who sparred with Bruce. They said he was blink-of-an-eye fast, and could hit and kick *really* hard. I don't think he was a great fighter, but he was obsessed with fitness and being able to hit and kick with speed and power. He wasn't just a Hollywood "fighter", neither was he able to beat like a Bas Ruten I think... he was somewhere in between and didn't have today's training methods... he was too busy innovating some of them.

There are stories of Bruce Lee fights and yes, we have no proof other than eye witness accounts, so we either believe them or not. Linda Lee states she watched her husband fight Wong Jack Man, and states it was really not much of a contest. Sterling Silliphant the director (I think) of Enter the Dragon states he would go jogging with Bruce before filming some days and people would line up wanting to challenge Bruce Lee, and he recalls one incident wherein that happened and he protested that Bruce had to film that day and what if he gets hit, and that Bruce told him him "this will only take a moment" to which Sillipant states it did. There is also the story of the stunt man that supposedly challenged Bruce as witnessed by Bob Wall, martial artist and actor, and he states that Lee handled that guy methodically until eventually he had him trapped against a wall and told the guy in Chinese, "this is like a lesson for you". Now maybe these challengers weren't world class fighters (we don't know their skill level), but to say that Bruce never fought is an untruth to say the least. His bio states how he fought with street gangs in Hong Kong as a teen. Maybe he knew he could be beat and didn't want to compete in whatever competition of the day and discredit his reputation, still we don't know. But at the least we can say he likely had some fighting experience, and perhaps with his level of conditioning he could have competed in world class fighting tourneys. His former student always stated how they sparred in full contact gear and went all out. Sooooo..... not for nothing, Chael perhaps you're not considering the whole truth, but just the hype.

“ and then he says “GG” idek what that means “ lol love it. 😂

Bruce Lee was a product of Hollywood magic.....let that sink in

Lmao to these days standards I can understand but Bruce knew how to fight before “fighting” was even a thing. Before all these combat disciplines were a thing there was Bruce lee💯 created Jeet Kune Do his own martial art n basically did everything a fighter could do back then

I knew chael, we grew up together in Oregon and used to play together as kids in neighbourhood. We used to talk a lot about bruce and chael used to tell me how great a fighter he thought bruce was. Chael Sonnen thought Bruce Lee would beat Ali back then, wed often discuss the outcome. I think in this video he's just playing.

Chuck Norris was friends with and sparred with Lee. Norris fought competitively and was a World Champion multiple times. Lee asked Norris about how Lee would do in competitions against Norris and Norris told him he would be easily defeated. This motivated Lee to learn from Norris.

The end had me DYING

I started watching Chael’s channel awhile ago. At first I was seeking a retired fighter’s take on the modern mma scene and fight breakdowns. But what I realized after a while was I was getting a gimmick. A kind of character (much like he was during his ufc career and that wwf/wcw character he brought to real mma fighting. He got it from Ali, this showmanship, and Ali likely got it from Sugar Ray who likely got it from Jack Johnson.). It was all a showman married with a fighter to put asses un seats and make this endeavor a living. For the promoters and the fighters, and everyone who formed around the fighter to make it big. All this was born out of enterprise. Yet capitalism can cause strife. But it at least allows anyone who has drive and ideas to thrive.

A Chael knife promo is just what I needed. Was a serious ass day until I saw that.

What's funny is that so many people today not alive then say Bruce Lee couldn't fight, because there isn't a video of a prize fight he was in, therefore that is the sole reason he couldn't fight. Yet ALL of his Martial Art contemporaries from that time period say he was exactly as tough as the stories say he was, including Chuck Norris and Gene LeBell who are widely considered two of the toughest Martial Artists in history, who have nothing to gain by making shit up about Bruce Lee. Just watching his sparring session at the Long Beach Championship suggests how tough he was. His actual style wasn't the flashy stuff you saw in the movies. It was very concise, efficient, and based on stop hitting, or blocking and striking at the same time. You literally couldn't see all of his strikes the first time you watch it. He put a kick to his partner's head so fast, I had to rewind it to catch it. You add what was clearly freakish strength to that speed and efficiency, he could absolutely fuck someone up.

Long before Bruce Lee was even born, the Great Ch'ang, Tung Sheng said, "No one can become a champion by using one style." Ch'ang was known as the face of modern Shuai Chiao (Chinese Wrestling).