Summary
- Michelle Yeoh’s iconic fights feature martial arts legends, showcasing their prowess in the action film genre.
- He has fought against Jet Li, Wang Xueqi, Sammo Hung and more, proving his skills against established stars.
- From classic Wuxia epics to Marvel blockbusters, Yeoh consistently demonstrates his mastery in swordsmanship and combat.
Michelle Yeoh is one of the most famous martial arts stars of all time, and it’s no surprise that she’s been able to lock fists with some truly legendary names in the action movie genre. Originally a model with a background in dance, Michelle Yeoh became a symbol of female kung fu as she built her acting career, frequently collaborating with some of the world’s most famous stars to hone her natural talent. Many of Michelle Yeoh’s best fights feature recognizable faces in the realm of martial arts and action movies.
In many cases, these big names are most famous in their native Chinese box office markets, having become known for their prolific output of classic Hong Kong martial arts films. However, on more than one occasion, Yeoh has locked fists with action stars who have made it big in the West, and she herself falls into a similar category. Whether in an obscure Wuxia film or among the cast of an Oscar-winning blockbuster, Michelle Yeoh has competed with many top actors and has come out on top more often than not.
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8 jet of li
Jet Li wins
Near
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor He could be classified as the shortest among the Brandan Frasiers. Mummy movies, but the film did at least feature a thrilling fight scene between two martial arts icons. Widely regarded as one of the most iconic Chinese martial arts stars of all time, both in the East and the West, Jet Li’s name needs little introduction. Li appears as the titular Dragon Emperor in Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperorand becomes involved with Zi Yuan (Michelle Yeoh) in an ancient battle for the secret of immortality.
Both fighters give it their all in the final duel, crossing swords amidst a chaotic war between hundreds of terracotta warriors and undead soldiers surrounding them. Sadly, the Emperor of Jet Li proves to be too much for the sorceress to handle, and manages to land a sinister final blow. Fortunately, Zi Yuan is at least able to steal his prized cursed dagger from him during the fight, which the surviving heroes then use to end his reign of mummified tyranny once and for all.
7 Wang Xueqi
Michelle Yeoh wins
Near
Wang Xueqi may not be a very recognizable figure to American audiences, but the Chinese actor and martial artist has a hallowed career spanning 25 years of action films and dramas. Wang Xueqi joins Michelle Yeoh in the cast of the 2010 Wuxia epic Reign of AssassinsDirected by John Woo, Wang Xueqi stars as The Wheel King, the tyrannical leader of a band of bandits ravaging China’s Ming Dynasty. He sends a series of assassins to kill a defector, Yeoh’s Drizzle.
When it comes to fencing, it’s hard to beat Michelle Yeoh.
As each assassin fails one by one, the Wheel King himself finds himself face to face with his former comrade, facing her in a momentous duel. The two engage in a feverish sword battle until seemingly at a standstill, with neither able to truly gain the upper hand. Eventually, Drizzle is able to leverage her mastery of sword techniques to find a gap in the Wheel King’s defense, fatally wounding him, though not without sustaining serious injuries herself. As far as swordsmanship goes, it’s hard to beat Michelle Yeoh.
6 Simu Liu
Michelle Yeoh wins
Near
Simu Liu was a great choice for the lead role in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film, having gotten his start in sci-fi action in the kaiju disaster blockbuster. Pacific Basin. In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten RingsLiu had the opportunity to literally learn from one of the best martial artists, Michelle Yeoh, who plays the aunt of the main character, Ying Nan. In an attempt to defeat his father, the villain Xu Wenwu, Shang-Chi engages in a sparring match with Ying Nan to find out how his mother was able to do so.
Ying Nan, played by Michelle Yeoh, is able to gracefully dance circles around Shang-Chi’s aggressive kung fu, clearly inspired by years of intense training under her cruel father’s supervision. Just when it seems Shang-Chi might get the upper hand, Ying Nan taps into the mystical aerokinesis her kung fu allows her to generate, knocking her nephew flat on his back to the ground with ease and aplomb. Even if this was more of a lesson than a fight, it still demonstrated the strength of Michelle Yeoh’s character.
5 Sammo hanging
Sammo Hung wins
Near
Sammo Hung, one of the most important figures in Hong Kong martial arts films of the 1970s and 1980s, is a legendary film fighter known for his brute strength and enormous size. Hung, who often plays characters that exaggerate his natural inclinations, had the opportunity to fight Michelle Yeoh in 1985. Shine, shine, lucky stars, The latest installment of the Lucky stars trilogy. In it, Michelle Yeoh stars in one of her first roles as a judo teacher.
Accustomed to men underestimating her abilities, Michelle Yeoh looks for an opponent to prove it to. Yeoh looks past the crowd of eager volunteers and invites Sammo Hung’s Kidstuff to come to the front of the class to defeat her. To her surprise, he is able to do so – not through sheer strength as she expected, but through skill. Hung’s clever shift in this scene proves that he is not a bumbling brute who relies on his weight class, but an accomplished martial artist who enjoys the benefits of his size.
4. Jamie Lee Curtis
Michelle Yeoh wins
Near
It may seem wrong to refer to Jamie Lee Curtis as an action star at first glance. But considering the increasingly combat-oriented nature of her appearances in the Hallowe’en series, Curtis was no stranger to action scenes when she starred in one alongside Michelle Yeoh in Everything, everywhere, everything at once. Here, Curtis plays an IRS office worker named Deidre, who becomes possessed by the film’s multiversal villain and hunts down a frightened and confused Evelyn who is still trying to understand her dimension-hopping abilities.
Evelyn begins the fight lacking confidence, powerless against the terrifying advance of Deidre (Jamie Lee Curtis). However, just as a ferocious-looking flying knee is about to land, Evelyn is able to blurt out a meaningful “I love you” to her attacker, providing her with a window of improbability that allows her to leverage her martial arts skills in another universe. In the end, Deidre’s weight is used against her, and Evelyn deflects her tax advisor-turned-assailant straight through some painful-looking drywall.
3 Max Zhang
Draw
Near
Max Zhang, an actor and Chinese wushu athlete, originally got his start in another Michelle Yeoh film, The tiger and the dragonworking as a stuntman. Over time, his career grew enough to land him a starring role in the The IP man spin-off of the film, Master Z: The Legacy of Ip Man. The film begins where The IP man 3 The drama was interrupted after the defeat of Cheung Tin-chi, Zhang’s partner and Wing Chun master. Tin-chi leads a more sombre life after his defeat by Ip Man, which leads him to get into trouble with a local gang.
Ultimately, this brings Tin-chi into conflict with Tso Ngan Kwan (Michelle Yeoh), a high-ranking member of a criminal syndicate. The two confront each other in the midst of a frenzied brawl in a restaurant and end up facing each other. Kwan wields a sword while Tin-chi is forced to make do with a makeshift weapon, a metal pipe. While both fighters are able to match the other’s flurry of blows, neither definitively gains the upper hand before alarmingly close gunfire forces them to halt their duel.
2. Zhang Ziyi
Michelle Yeoh wins
Near
Interestingly, it was Zhang Ziyi’s skill in her on-screen fight with Michelle Yeoh that arguably launched her name into the annals of martial arts film royalty. Once a dancer and model, like Michelle Yeoh, Zhang made the jump to action films with astonishing skill as Jen Yu in Hidden tiger and dragon. Here, she faces Yu Shu Lien (Yeoh), a seasoned warrior who stands in Jen’s way when the fearsome sword Green Destiny begins to corrupt her personality.
One of the greatest martial arts sword fights of all time, the battle between Jen and Shu Lien is a fascinating contest of opposites. Jen’s raw strength and natural skill with the Green Fate contrasts with Shu Lien’s superior experience and skill with multiple weapons. Noticing Jen’s habit of breaking his weapons, Shu Lien ends the battle by bringing his sword down on Jen’s neck as he allows it to break, putting Jen at the mercy of the veteran fighter.
1 Norman Chui
Michelle Yeoh wins
Near
Not to be confused with Ip Man’s signature martial arts style, Wing Chun is a 1990s Hong Kong action film starring Michelle Yeoh as the title character. A classic story about a simple tofu shop owner who learns martial arts to defend himself against evil bandits. Michelle Yeoh’s Wing Chun grows stronger throughout the film through her multiple encounters with the criminal known as the Flying Chimpanzee. They clash several times throughout the film, confusing Wing with his infamous “cotton belly” technique.
In
Wing Chun
is decisively defeated by one of Michelle Yeoh’s many powerful characters.
In their final showdown, things don’t go so well for Flying Chimpanzee. Having learned a secret technique capable of defeating the cotton belly, Wing Shun ensures that his final encounter with Flying Chimpanzee is a victorious one, forcing him to live up to his name with an incredibly powerful final blow. Norman Chui is a versatile martial arts movie star in his own right, but in Wing Chunis decisively defeated by one of Michelle Yeoh’s many powerful characters.
Michelle Yeoh