Which action stars were Legit fighters???

[Lionheart7167]

I was thinking about the action fighters I grew up with the other day (Van Damme, Seagal, Norris, Bruce Lee)

Which of these guys were actual competitors in a combat sport, and which ones were "legit"???
It seems like Van Damme held a pretty great kickboxing record (he's the only guy I found with recorded combat competition) and Seagal was excellent in Aikido, but I don't think he competed in anything.

 

[Nada.]

Chuck Norris. Multitime TKD, Karate Champ, learned BJJ and some other stuff aswell.

 

[Mr. Tate]

Mirko

 

[CoachDitka]

Mirko

CroCop approves.

 

[Katsumi Yamada]

 

[SuspectChin]

Chuck Norris, JCVD, Dolph Lundgren, Joe Lewis and more recently, Cung Le. All legit fighters.

 

[TheMaster]

Bruce was a legit world class martial artist for his time.
People just don't know now. Without him I doubt this forum would exist.
He never completed in sports but he had some fights so yes, he was a legit fighter.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/bruce-lee-vs-wong-jack-man

 

[InfinityLens]

Ronda Rousey
Gina Cirano
Oleg Taktarov
Bas Rutten
Marco Huas
Ken Shamrock
Tito Ortiz

All did/do movies.

 

[shococham]

 

[tat2man5k]

Chuck Norris, JCVD, Dolph Lundgren, Joe Lewis and more recently, Cung Le. All legit fighters.

Which always makes me wonder if Chuck Zito is full of crap when he says he beat up JCVD https://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31768

 

[Lionheart7167]

anything else?

 

[cabal]

Joe bugner, he would mop the floor with all the stars cited above.

 

[KID Yamamoto]

 

[Kforcer]

Jay Silverheels, aka Tonto, was as legit as it gets. National Canadian runner-up in freestyle wrestling and Golden Gloves. Pretty sure most black and white era action stars were tough guys though, given how often they had to do their own stunts.

 

[Kforcer]

Which always makes me wonder if Chuck Zito is full of crap when he says he beat up JCVD https://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31768

Well, he said he sucker punched him. He said he punched him while he was getting up from his chair. That can happen to anyone. And he said he did it because he didn't want Van Damme to have a chance to kick him. So he's basically acknowledging in so many words that he has zero faith in his ability to take Van Damme in a fair fight or that, at least, he'd be worried about it.

 

[Danespina]

Which of these guys were actual competitors in a combat sport

Bruce was a legit world class martial artist for his time. He never completed in sports but...

 

[tat2man5k]

Well, he said he sucker punched him. He said he punched him while he was getting up from his chair. That can happen to anyone. And he said he did it because he didn't want Van Damme to have a chance to kick him. So he's basically acknowledging in so many words that has zero faith in his ability to talk Van Damme in a fair fight or that, at least, he'd be worried about it.

I've read that as well. There are so many stories, but I didn't know if maybe Zito was just a list.

 

[Dexter]

Just watch JCVD movies, lots of famous guys from KB/MT scene of that period.

 

[InfinityLens]

Wasn't Cody from "Step by Step" who also did the "Kickboxer" series a legit fighter?

 

[strebitel86]

JCVD is a legit Karate Champion.