There are accounts from many, many years ago of men killing a leopard without a weapon. They would get it on it's back and break it's ribs in with a knee.
Carl Akeley:
Carl Akeley had plenty of close encounters with animals in his long career as a naturalist and taxidermist. There was the time a bull elephant had charged him on Mount Kenya, nearly crushing him; the time he was unarmed and charged by three rhinos who missed him, only because the animals had such poor vision; and the time the tumbling body of a silver-back gorilla he'd just shot almost knocked him off a cliff apparently. This peculiar tradition began on his very first trip to Africa, where, on an otherwise routine hunting trip, the naturalist became the prey.
In a sunny afternoon in yet another expedition to the wild, Akeley raised his rifle and squeezed the trigger. But when he heard a bloodcurdling shriek, he realised his mistake. This was no pig. It was a leopard—and it was still alive.
Not wanting to end up stuffing the cat with his own entrails, Akeley raised his rifle and fired twice, but he missed both times. On his third shot, the bullet grazed the leopard, sending the feline into a frenzy. Enraged, the big cat screamed and charged the American, all teeth and bad attitude, ready to take his revenge.
Terrified out of his mind, Akeley pulled the trigger a fourth time, only to realize that he was out of bullets. Downright desperate, Akeley tried to flee, loading cartridges into his rifle as he ran. Working the bolt, he turned to shoot, only to see the leopard flying through the air, fangs bared. Fortunately, Akeley’s first shot had wounded one of the cat’s back paws. Thanks to the bullet, the leopard’s jump was a bit off, giving Akeley enough time to throw up his hands.
The cat sank its jaws into the man’s forearm, and the two started wrestling back and forth, fighting for their lives. Eventually, the man and cat grew weak and tumbled to the ground. Finally, he managed to strangle the leopard with his left hand while ramming his right arm down the leopard’s throat. Later Akeley posed with the dead leopard, resulting in his most iconic photo (that can be seen far above).
If that’s not bad-ass.. I really don’t know what is.
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