The Takedown | Bruce Lee vs Conor McGregor: imagining the MMA pioneer as a modern-day UFC fighter
- ‘Notorious’ is set to return against Donald Cerrone, but let’s be honest, his opponent doesn’t strike fear into the hearts of the masses
- Instead, with the Irishman’s bout now less than two weeks away, let’s imagine a much more exciting fight – against his idol Bruce Lee
As Conor McGregor prepares for his comeback fight against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, it’s safe to assume this isn’t exactly the fight everyone was waiting for when it comes to “The Notorious”. Cerrone feels like a place holder, a prequel, a warm-up, as McGregor could then go a number of ways (if he wins), most probably towards Jorge Masvidal and his ‘BMF’ belt or a title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov or Tony Ferguson for the UFC lightweight crown.
With visions of “what if” fights in mind, let’s take a magical, fantastical stroll into a different multiverse.
As Sunday, January 19 (11am HK time) and UFC 246 beckons, McGregor has publicly laid out his “list” of fighters he wants to pummel in his late career comeback. One fight I’d love to see (if time machines existed, of course), is one that has probably been MMA water cooler talk and bar stool fodder for endless heated discussions from Dublin to Mong Kok.
The debate has been MMA nerd internet chatter lately – a UFC gameplay simulation of Lee vs McGregor on YouTube has almost six million views, a Quora thread, a Comic Vine survey and a slew of Reddit posts. Lee fighting “Mystic Mac” has more roots than most imagined fights as McGregor has referenced and cited the MMA pioneer multiple times over the years.
The first recorded interview on YouTube goes back to 2014 when McGregor commented on Lee as a potential modern day UFC fighter in a promotional interview before Fight Night 37 in which Alexander Gustafsson took on Jimi Manuwa (McGregor was not on the card).
