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‘Cobra Kai’ Star Discusses Potential MMA Move
Cobra Kai star Brandon H. Lee praised UFC fighters and discussed whether he could transition into MMA.
Lee, 26, is known for his role as Kwon Jae-Sung in the final season of the Cobra Kai. The popular Netflix series continues the story of The Karate Kid and stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka.
Lee’s character was introduced as the top pupil of the Cobra Kai dojo, led by Martin Kove’s Sensei John Kreese.
During an appearance on The Game Plan, Lee, a taekwondo specialist, responded when asked if he would pursue MMA. He quickly dismissed the idea, but praised UFC fighters for testing their skills against top-level martial artists.
“UFC, is it’s whole own thing. People that fight in their sports, it’s a whole other ball game,” Lee said. “That’s one where you learn how to do martial arts and you can definitely defend yourself, but people that are fighting in their sports, especially UFC, that’s the top of the top.”
Lee also emphasized that he’s not interested in fighting competitively. While he’s passionate about expanding his martial arts knowledge, he wants to protect his body and mind for his acting and stunt work.
“I wanna learn other martial arts here and there, but no, not in terms of actually competing and fighting. I need to keep my body intact and my brain intact.”
UFC Fighters Had Minor Roles on ‘Cobra Kai’
MMA fans may have noticed a few familiar faces on Cobra Kai. The series, which began on YouTube Red before moving to Netflix, ran from 2018 to 2025.
Throughout the series, there were some notable past and present UFC stars who made an appearance.
In the 5th season, Eryk Anders, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, and former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley appeared. Woodley’s character meets a gruesome fate, losing his finger during a fight scene with Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence.
What’s Brandon H. Lee’s Martial Arts Background?
Lee’s martial arts background is rooted in taekwondo. Trained under his father’s tutelage, he holds a 5th degree black belt under the World Taekwondo Federation.
In addition, Lee has represented Team USA’s National Taekwondo Pomsae team and won a National championship in 2019.
Lee’s extensive martial arts training was showcased through his stunt work in the final season of Cobra Kai. He received rave reviews for the intensity he brought to his role and his action scenes.
Lee recalled filming his character’s death scene and how a minor accident helped improve the final product.
“Shout out Patrick [Lewis] because the timing on that is ridiculous. But yeah, what ended up working out is that because Patrick hit me for real, they were able to shoot it in a 50-50,” Lee told The Game Plan. “You see everything so much better than if [the camera] was over one of our shoulders and you can just see it so clearly.”
He also acknowledged that the filming process featured unexpected moments that improved the overall quality:
“There’s so many things that happened on the day as well that were kind of accidents, but ended up making it even better.”
Giancarlo Aulino Giancarlo Aulino is sports writer who covers UFC for Heavy.com. He began writing for Heavy in 2025 after providing MMA coverage for Sportskeeda. Giancarlo is an experienced journalist and interviewer, having covered soccer clubs Toronto FC and York United FC as a full-season reporter, and also producing sports coverage for Toronto radio station VIBE 105.5FM.
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