They'd think he was

scared that's what they'd think. As you can see, this is all ego
play. It is not the sign of a mentally developed martial artist,
nor is it really his fault because he is no different from many
of the other high graded martial artists -it is the fault of a
system that teaches only the physical response. It is also the
fault of the grading system that elevates the Dan grades to
almost God-like status.
Higher grades in most traditional systems are revered, nay
worshiped. This reverence doesn't squash the negative
emotions in the way that the martial arts are supposed to in
fact it does quite the opposite -it enlarges the ego and
encourages many of the negatives that we should be driving
out like demons. So we end up with a very high graded, very
capable (physically) martial artist that is stuck to a pub bar
by the superglue of peer pressure and ignorance. If a bar is
threatening, go to a different bar and fuck what anyone else
might think about it or you.