Bruce Lee changed the world of martial arts in countless ways, breaking down cultural barriers between the East and West and influencing an entire generation of martial artists in his own time and after his death, all the way up to today. One of the major contributions to martial arts he is known for is his rejection of rigidly defined styles and fighting techniques, arguing that martial arts in the truest sense is like water – formless, shapeless, and adaptable to whatever container it sits in. As such, Lee is often credited as a major forerunner to modern MMA fighting. UFC president Dana White goes as far as to call Bruce Lee “the father of mixed martial arts”.
Now, it seems that the combat sport that has blossomed and thrived by Bruce Lee’s teachings is returning the favor. Canadian video game publisher EA Sports is set to unleash a fighting game in which gamers can play as a wide variety of real-life UFC fighters.
The game will be released on June 17th for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One gaming consoles, with Bruce Lee as a free inclusion in the character roster for fans who pre-order the game. Gamers who aren’t able to make a pre-order will still be able to unlock Bruce Lee after completing the game’s career mode at the Pro- difficulty level.
Bruce Lee is certainly no stranger to the world of fighting games. The 1993 biopic on his life “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story” saw a video game adaptation in the early nineties, and 2002 saw the release of “Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon” for the Xbox gaming console. Additionally, numerous characters in some of the most popular and beloved fighting games of all time have been modeled on Bruce Lee, including Fei Long of the “Street Fighter” series, Marshall Law of the “Tekken” games, and Liu Kang of the “Mortal Kombat” franchise (the latter also draws most of its fantasy-oriented premise from Lee’s film “Enter the Dragon”.)
With this latest addition to his video game resume, Bruce Lee fans all over the world will be able to take the King of Kung Fu into the octagon to pit him against the likes of Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Georges St. Pierre, Rhonda Rousey. and Cung Le among dozens of others included in the game’s character roster. Way to start an awesome new trend, EA Sports!
Check out the message from Bruce’s daughter Shannon in the video below!
