While the world has always debated who would win in a bout between Mohammad Ali and Bruce Lee, former Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce has no doubts about who the winner would be. In the latest episode of the “New Heights” podcast, Jason picked Mohammad Ali as the ultimate winner and gave an absolutely zero chance to the martial arts icon in a fight against “The Greatest”.
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The debate became a topic of discussion among the brothers when Travis noticed that Jason was wearing a Mohammad Ali t-shirt. This led to the KC Chiefs’ star asking his elder brother who his pick would be in a fantasy fight between Bruce Lee and Mohammad Ali. Much to Travis’ surprise, Jason picked Ali without hesitation and claimed that the former heavyweight champion would “beat the fu*k out” of Lee.
“What are we talking about? Ali would beat the fu*k out of Bruce Lee. He’s like five-foot something…” exclaimed the former Eagles center in confidence.
He further predicted that the match would end with Bruce Lee walking straight into a jab, resulting in a straight KO. “Bruce Lee is going to walk right into a right straight and be knocked them down his fu*king consciousness, that’s what’s going to happen,” hilariously predicted the former Eagles star.
Travis, at this point, was in awe of his brother’s confident claims backing Ali. He, therefore, asked Jason once again if he was sure about not giving Bruce Lee a chance. Jason, however, didn’t budge and quoted Ali’s famous “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” along with his reach as the reason why Lee would win.
“Ali’s got the reach, he’s floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee… I mean Bruce Lee was impressive, I’m not trying to take away from Bruce Lee but zero bit of me thinks that Ali’s losing that fight,” the former NFL star said.
Travis was still not convinced by his brother’s playful response. Luckily for us, Jason gave a very technical answer, which finally calmed Travis’ curiosity.
Why Does Jason Kelce Give No Chance to Bruce Lee?
While Jason still maintained that Bruce Lee had zero chance of winning against Ali, he did concede later on that Lee could do some damage with his kicks if he caught Ali off guard. Regardless, Jason argued that Lee would still lose because he doesn’t have the physicality of a Brazilian jiu-jitsu grapple and submission, which in the Eagles legend’s mind is the perfect antidote for Ali’s heavy boxing style.
“I mean yeah, I’m giving it 0%. I guess you could always catch somebody like maybe if he catches Ali off guard with like a kick, but I don’t think for a second because it’s not like he knows Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Like Brazilian jiu-jitsu is an all-time equalizer [size doesn’t matter]… like you get down on the ground and force the guy to come down to where you’re at,” Jason said.
Jason, however, did admit that he considers Bruce Lee a great martial artist. But in his eyes, Lee’s reliance on martial arts would be the reason for his loss, as the Eagles legend considers it impossible for the Jeet Kune Do founder to out-strike Ali in a fight.
“He’s [Bruce Lee] a martial artist, but it’s not Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu… he’s not a submission guy. He’s a striking guy and I just don’t think from a striking standpoint he’s going to be able to out-strike the greatest boxer of all time,” Jason added.
Despite Jason’s confidence, picking a clear winner in this fight between two of the most revered fighters is very tough for many. While the elder Kelce brother’s jiu-jitsu argument is fair, he should have also been cognizant of the fact that Bruce Lee is the founder of Jeet Kune Do — a martial arts philosophy that draws inspiration from diverse combat disciplines.
Some have even theorized that Jeet Kune Do is one of the earliest renditions of what we call MMA today. That being said, it’s quite hard to pick a winner between the two legends. So as Travis Kelce said at the end of the debate, the only way to settle the argument is by picking them on Mortal Kombat and slog it out.
