It's no secret that Liu Kang is indeed a Bruce Lee-inspired character. It was said that Jason Scott Lee (no relation to Bruce Lee) was Bruce Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and was offered the part of Liu Kang and turned it down. The part of Liu Kang eventually went to Robin Shou (for the 1995 film) while the current film will have Ludi Lin (from that failed Power Rangers film). The character of Lee from Enter the Dragon was obviously given tribute in later films and games. There was the arcade game Yi Ar Kung Fu which had its main protagonist Lee fighting off deadly opponents. The concept also made it into Liu Kang when the low-budget hit Mortal Kombat was created.
The first game featured Liu Kang in a very Bruce Lee type of attire. Who can remember the way that Liu Kang was in the first game where he wore black pants and kung fu shoes? Lee's trademark appearance was made into Liu Kang and put into a bloody game. Interestingly, Liu Kang had nunchucks (which is obviously acknowledging he's based on Lee) during Mortal Kombat Deception, Mortal Kombat Armageddon, and Mortal Kombat 11. The plot of Enter the Dragon was somewhat integrated into the Mortal Kombat franchise one way or another. Mortal Kombat (1995) copied certain elements into the film. Liu Kang enters into an island tournament ran by a sleazy old man named Shang Tsung. However, it's revealed that Shang Tsung was merely the subordinate of a more dangerous man named Shao Kahn.
Mortal Kombat II was where things truly kicked off and the first game somewhat gets forgotten. In fact, Mortal Kombat II was said to have had the greatest influence on the plot of the reboot Mortal Kombat (2011) game. Liu Kang was given a rather familiar aesthetic change that he never had. Liu Kang received his RED headband which is VERY SIMILAR to Ryu's in the Street Fighter franchise. Ryu wore a red headband (though it was white in the Street Fighter Alpha series). If that wasn't enough -- Liu Kang was given his own "Ken" with Kung Lao. Sure, Johnny Cage can be like Ken in the sense that both are movie stars but he never trained together with the protagonist. Liu Kang and Kung Lao grew up together and became best friends for almost every game. Kung Lao would later display certain characteristics similar to Ken such as a friendly rivalry with the main character. Like Ken, Kung Lao has a high premium on the Kung family name. However, unlike Ken, Kung Lao had a few games in which he didn't appear namely Mortal Kombat 4, and Mortal Kombat Deception. Kung Lao had unique moves of his own that truly didn't make him a clone of Liu Kang. Interestingly, Ken did also have an absence in the Marvel vs. Capcom crossovers namely the first Marvel vs. Capcom game and Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite.
The old rivalries of Liu Kang can be similar to Ryu's. You may notice that Ryu has a rival who was once that champion (Sagat), a rival who triggers his darker side (Akuma), and the franchise's main antagonist (M. Bison). In Liu Kang's case, one may consider that he actually defeated the long-reigning champion Goro, has a bitter rivalry with Shang Tsung (like Ryu has with Akuma) and is the one who kicks the main antagonist's butt (Shao Kahn). Liu Kang does become the expected main hero though like Ryu -- he also had a moment when he was pushed back. Ryu was somewhat pushed back during Street Fighter III as it was Alex who defeated Gill in the tournament. Liu Kang was momentarily killed off in Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance then was replaced by Shujinko in Mortal Kombat Deception and Taven in Mortal Kombat Armageddon. In Mortal Kombat X, Liu Kang was in his evil state so both Johnny Cage and Cassie Cage were the ones who gave Shinnok two rather pitiful defeats.
One may even say that Evil Ryu did inspire the Revenant Liu Kang plot. I always felt that the Zombie Liu Kang plot was lame (and loved the alternate costume better). However, I really ended up loving how cool (and sick) Liu Kang looked in his Revenant form. Both Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11 had Liu Kang in those attires. What was somewhat questionable was why Mortal Kombat X just didn't give us the Revenant suit as the default suit and we had to unlock it. Mortal Kombat 11 made the Revenants have the Revenant form as their default attire. Mortal Kombat 11 did try to explore Liu Kang's darker side when his past self meets his future self. It was almost like what if Past Ryu met Evil Ryu from the future.
Pretty much, the character who started as a Bruce Lee tribute ends up becoming a Chinese Ryu in many ways.
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