Bruce Lee might be the ‘father of MMA’ – UFC president Dana White said it, but the kung fu icon’s only official fight against a boxer was mixed martial arts

Sep 23 , 2020

Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon, which showcased early elements of MMA. Photo: Golden Harvest and Warner Bros

From fight scenes in films like Enter the Dragon to passages in his book the Tao of Jeet Kune Do and the single official fight he ever participated in, MMA arguably owes a debt to Bruce Lee’s legacy – his patented fighting style, after all, favours ‘any technique or means which serves its end’ – the very definition of ‘mixed martial arts’

Legendary Hong Kong martial artist Bruce Lee is credited with many things. He remains a movie star hero thanks to films like Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon. The wisdom of his sayings and his book Tao of Jeet Kune Do have seen him labelled a philosopher. His yellow and black tracksuit from Game of Death remains an iconic fashion piece that has inspired looks from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill to Onitsuka trainers (and even a local restaurant speciality). And of course, he is heralded as a great martial artist whose legacy continues to inspire many across the world.

But did he really play a role in the establishment of modern mixed martial arts (MMA)? The man himself is not available for comment having passed away in 1973, decades before the rise of MMA in the form it is popularly known today – the fighting style of organisations like Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and One Championship.

Nonetheless, that hasn’t stopped others speaking for him. Most notably Dana White, president of UFC, has described Lee as the “father of mixed martial arts”.

Bruce Lee wearing kempo gloves in Enter the Dragon. Photo: Golden Harvest and Warner Bros

If such an idea seems ludicrous to modern MMA fans – who might consider the action inside the octagon a mix of kick-boxing and wrestling as opposed to kung fu – it shouldn’t. Martial art Jeet Kune Do favours “any technique or means which serves its end … Efficiency is anything that scores,” according to Lee, its creator.

These words perfectly embody the current spirit of MMA, which utilises the best elements of different combat disciplines to arrive at a complete “ultimate” fighting style. This is different from UFC’s earliest days, though, when the promotion company put on fights between specialists in individual styles to settle questions like “who would win a fight between a great boxer and a great wrestler?”

Philosophy aside, Lee wasn’t just about lightning quick strikes and deadly one-inch punches either. The Tao of Jeet Kune Do provided plenty of detailed information about various grappling techniques and submission holds fighters could use – the kind of offence that would look right at home inside an MMA ring.

This has even been caught on camera. In an early scene from Enter the Dragon, Lee faces off against an opponent played by star Sammo Hung in an exhibition bout filmed at Ching Chung Koon temple in Hong Kong. Here, not only are both fighters wearing kempo gloves, which happen to resemble the kind of gloves worn nowadays by MMA fighters, but Lee wins his bout by executing a version of an armbar, a move popular with MMA practitioners.

Lee even fought in a pseudo-MMA fight himself once. Although the icon never engaged in a professional fight – a fact that Lee’s detractors use to criticise him – he was involved in a school fight that pitted him against a boxer.

The event, which can be considered the only “official” fight Lee ever had, took place in 1958 between St Francis Xavier’s School, which Lee attended, and King George V School. Lee, then aged 18, fought Gary Elms, a schoolboy boxing champion. Martial artist versus boxer – a classic match-up of the kind that early UFC would have been happy to organise. Although the fight is said to have been a cagey affair, with both competitors wary of the unfamiliar style of their opponent, Lee was a unanimous victor on points.