Cobra Kai’s 10 Strongest Fighters, Ranked

Spoilers for “Cobra Kai” season 6, part 3 follow.

After a very respectable run of five regular seasons and a massive, three-part season 6, “Cobra Kai” comes to a close. Over the course of its 65-episode run, the martial arts comedy-drama has introduced a massive cast of karate experts who have clashed with each other so many times that a fan is bound to have at least some thoughts about their power ranking.

Putting together a list of “Cobra Kai’s” greatest fighters is trickier than it seems. While it’s easy to determine that ruthless military man Captain George Turner (Terry Serpico) is likely a better martial artist than young Bert (Owen Morgan), many of the show’s major names have an extremely eclectic win-loss record that forces the reviewer to lean heavily into their status near the end of the show. For instance, Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) is a beast, but he’s also focused on non-karate things for decades, and a season 6 fight with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) shows that he doesn’t belong in the conversation of the show’s greatest fighters. Samantha Larusso (Mary Mouser) does very well against other notables, but wanes in presence and effectively retires from active competition in “Cobra Kai” season 5, part 3. Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) and Kenny Payne (Dallas Dupree Young) are virtually unstoppable in seasons 4 and 5, respectively, but go on to fall pretty far down in the pecking order. Even Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan), who has the potential to be the single most proficient karateka in the series, spends the show’s endgame in a comparative free fall.

So, who’s left, and how do they compare to each other? A whole lot of people, actually, and this is how they stack up at the end of “Cobra Kai.” 

You can’t keep a bad man down, though everyone in the show certainly tries to give John Kreese (Martin Kove) his just desserts. Kreese flirts with redemption during “Cobra Kai” season 6, part 3, but he’s also the first to admit that we’re witnessing a severe case of too little, too late.

Kove’s performance oozes malevolence and villainous charisma, and it doesn’t hurt that the character’s fighting skills can back up the gravitas he brings. Kreese is a three-time army karate champ, a top student of the show’s evil Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) expy Kim Sun-Yung (C.S. Lee), and a trainer of champions. This makes him a formidable presence in the world of karate, and no matter what Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) says, Cobra Kai is arguably at its most dangerous when Kreese is in charge — especially if you include their victorious stint at the Sekai Taikai, where he runs the team before handing the reins to Johnny ahead of the semifinals.

Though he’s in his 70s and his personal karate prowess isn’t as strong as some others characters’, Kreese is a dangerous opponent because he’s happy to live by his “No Mercy” credo. He rarely showboats, never gives up, and does whatever it takes to win. He’ll tackle you through a glass door. He’ll drop you in a pit of spikes, try to stab you with an eunjangdo or a glass shard, or simply blow up your entire yacht — along with you, your closest henchman, and himself — with a lit cigar and some gasoline. Kreese is an obsessive menace with nothing to lose, and this more than makes up for his advanced age and comparative lack of technique.

The Iron Dragons’ male captain Axel Kovačević (Patrick Luwis) is very heavily Ivan Drago-coded, and literally breaks his Miyagi-Do counterpart Robby after already dominating him in a previous match. He’s also one of the few people we see directly causing their opponent’s death during a fight. His style is a domineering combination of brutal punches, swift kicks, and an impregnable defense, and he can switch between at least two equally dominant stances on the fly when his opponent figures out his usual routine. So, why on Earth is he so low on the list? 

Despite accidentally killing Kwon (Brandon H. Lee) in the “Cobra Kai” season 6, part 2 episode “Eunjangdo” and barely taking a hit from anyone before the rematch against Robby, Axel falls victim to what might just be the show’s most wonderfully cheesy montage. After Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) takes Kwon’s place as the Cobra Kai male captain and Axel makes the decision to stop listening to Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan) and fight fair instead, Johnny orders Miguel to relax and unleash all the skills he’s learned and executed over the course of the show. Miguel does precisely that, with the appropriate flashback scenes from past seasons playing as the contemporary hits land. 

Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) from “Rocky IV” might have been defeated thanks to his opponent’s montage-heavy training, but Axel falls to a physical manifestation of a montage without a real fighting chance. That’s bound to drop him a few places. Granted, had he obeyed Wolf and cheated, he would likely have broken Miguel’s back and won in a ruthlessly decisive fashion, which would have potentially landed him at the top of the list … but hey, that’s just how power rankings go sometimes.

Speaking of Miguel! The show’s very first new Cobra Kai student quite fittingly ends the series as the Sekai Taikai male champion — once again fighting for the freshly re-Johnny Lawrenced titular dojo, no less. Miguel is a talented precision fighter who favors strong basics with the occasional flashy maneuver thrown in, and his training with both Johnny and Daniel has turned him into an excellent all-rounder with great defense and offense. In fact, his overall development as a fighter is arguably the most impressive on the show. Which other character’s karate arc can compare to overcoming paraplegia to become the world’s best male karateka?

Of course, it’s impossible to discuss Miguel without bringing up his nemesis-turned-stepbrother, Robby Keene. The two characters’ fates are implicitly tied together, and in any given season, the show’s focus on one’s stellar performance can’t help but hurt the other’s place in the pecking order. In this overall ranking, Miguel fares better because he’s the one who takes down Axel and wins the championship. Unlike Robby, he also doesn’t spend much of season 6 in a performance-impacting relationship drama funk.

In the grand scheme of things, Robby is likely destined to become a mightier warrior. Since Miguel is heading to Stanford and embracing academia while Robby is embracing life as a professional competitive karate fighter, a potential future “Cobra Kai” special or movie would almost certainly flip the top fighter script between the pair. As it stands, however, Miguel’s achievements make him the best male teenage fighter in the show, while Robby is hovering just outside the Top 10.

With her striking power, kickboxing background, and sheer aggression, Tory Nichols (Peyton List) is nigh-consistently presented as a terrifying opponent, which is fitting since she has a tendency to end up fighting for whichever sensei is most villainous during any given season. Tory is the walking secret weapon of any given dojo … as long as her head is in the right place. 

Perhaps to make up for her physical superiority to most opponents, the show puts Tory through an absolute mental wringer. She can barely fight a single match without doubts or personal tragedies of varying severity boiling at the back of her mind. This is the one great equalizer most opponents have when facing her, but when she can focus, she generally shows what she can really do — and has both All Valley and Sekai Taikai championships to show for it. 

If you question Tory’s place this high on the list, watch her Sekai Taikai finale against Zara Malik (Rayna Vallandingham). After Robby confesses his love to her, Tory gets to fight without baggage for the first time in the series. One big, sloppy, crowd-pleasing kiss later, she unleashes the purest of hells. She defends and counters like a Miyagi-Do master, performs ruthless attacks any Cobra Kai sensei would be proud of, and even whips out complex acrobatic moves that manage to rival the impossibly nimble Zara herself. The usually invincible Iron Dragon takes the one of the most decisive match losses we’ve seen on the show, and it’s hard to come up with “Cobra Kai” characters from the younger generation who would have a chance against a Tory this focused. No wonder the managers and sponsors come running. 

Sensei Terrance Silver’s sheer size, aggressiveness, and powerful kicks make him a force to be reckoned with, as well as a fitting overarching villain for “Cobra Kai.” From Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto) to Kreese, Johnny, and Daniel, all major adult characters who face him suffer at least one solid loss. He also has a powerful special technique at his disposal — the Silver Bullet, a special charged chest punch that’s powerful enough to floor any opponent it connects with.     

That being said, Silver’s true threat comes from his cunning, various underhanded tactics, and the vast resources at his disposal. He beats Chozen only because the Okinawan master’s attention is diverted and Silver has a katana. Johnny does reasonably well against him even after an ambush kick to the head. Daniel does genuinely lose to Silver in season 5 … but goes on to soundly beat him in the season finale “Head of the Snake,” blocking a Silver Bullet and taking the villain down with his signature Crane Kick. As for Kreese, he can’t match the younger Cobra Kai’s hand-to-hand skills, but their explosive final fight in the season 6 episode “Strike Last” proves that there’s more to fighting than kicks and punches.  

Skillful as he is, Silver can and has been beaten. His smug attitude and wide, well-telegraphed attacks can be used against him as long as the opponent keeps a cool head, which prevents him from rising higher than this on the list. 

Daniel LaRusso is a force of nature when he sets out to fight. He uses Mr. Miyagi’s teachings to nurture a defense-based style that may not always be flashy but doesn’t lack offensive moves, either. With this, he gets some truly major wins over the seasons — including a particularly grisly season 3 one against Kreese, whom he incapacitates and nearly kills with a complex pressure point maneuver. He also soundly defeats Terry Silver in the season 5 finale, “The Head of the Snake.” However, he only ever really fights when his back is physically or metaphorically against the wall, which means that he sometimes lacks a certain killer instinct.

At the end of the show, Daniel opts to fully embrace the antiviolence aspects of Miyagi-Do and exclusively focus on defense, splitting his students’ time with Johnny’s offense-minded Cobra Kai. This effectively removes him from the fighter pool, though focusing on what he’s most comfortable with certainly makes him a happier and more efficient trainer. 

It may seem like a travesty to place “The Karate Kid” protagonist at this spot on the list, but just like with Robby and Miguel, it’s a case of balancing the scales. While Daniel has far more mystical special techniques and philosophical karate currency to rely on than his frenemy Johnny Lawrence, “Cobra Kai” is fond of delivering subtle and not-so-subtle hints that Johnny is actually the superior fighter, and only paints the two as full equals when they have to face each other.

Feng “Sensei Wolf” Xiao’s first chronological fight in “Cobra Kai” season 6, part 2 is a true supervillain moment. He beats a cage fighter played by UFC legend Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, and promptly uses his Shaolin Sunset kick technique to murder the poor man. He’s the sensei Terry Silver hand-picks to spearhead the last assault on Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, and a three-time Sekai Taikai champion to boot. In other words, laugh at the man’s decision to call himself “Sensei Wolf” as much as you like, but make sure he’s out of earshot.

A complete fighter and a trainer of global karate superstars like Axel and Zara, Sensei Wolf is essentially a far younger John Kreese on steroids (or whatever superfood the clean-living Wolf considers the closest equivalent). He utterly manhandles his opponents and easily defends himself against both Johnny and Daniel during the Sekai Taikai brawl in the season 6 episode “Eunjangdo.” Before their match in the series finale “Ex-Degenerate” Wolf actually manages to instill fear in Johnny — something Daniel is genuinely surprised to witness. 

And yet, Wolf loses the match. Johnny manages to surprise him with a full-on 1980s sports movie underdog comeback where he deftly counters Shaolin Sunset and delivers a victorious spinning backfist. This shows that while Wolf is a highly dangerous fighter, he shares Terry Silver’s tendency to get lost in his overconfidence and desire to dominate the opponent, which is a trait all three best “Cobra Kai” fighters lack.

As the central villain of “The Karate Kid Part 2,” Chozen Toguchi is Johnny Lawrence squared. He’s trained in a more violent version of Miyagi-Do than Daniel, and a strong enough fighter that he easily negates the Crane Kick during their climactic showdown. When he re-enters the franchise in “Cobra Kai” season 3, he’s still an absolute beast at Miyagi-Do, and has added Cobra Kai-style Tang Soo Do in his arsenal for good measure. Chozen is arguably the most powerful fighter of his generation, easily dominating Daniel in their sparring match and providing secret techniques as needed. He’s also a sublime, if unconventional trainer who actually manages to teach the Miyagi-Do kids some cooperation for once — with nothing but a bunch of ordinary eggs, no less.

Chozen is such a proficient martial artist that the show even adds asterisks to his fights. When Terry Silver literally cuts him down with a sword in “Head of the Snake,” Chozen already had the villain beat but diverted his attention at the last second. When he spars with opponents who might have a shot at beating him like Johnny, we don’t get to see the end result — and when he fights side by side with other powerful characters, he invariably comes across as a beast. As a bonus, he’s also a wonderful character whose unique combination of childish humor and extreme deadpan provides some of the show’s finest moments. 

The only thing keeping Chozen on the bottom rung of the top three is that he lacks major feats. Despite invariably delivering a good showing, he does tend to lose his big “life or death” matches thanks to final big swings from the opponent — Terry’s sword on “Cobra Kai,” and Daniel’s Drum Technique in “The Karate Kid Part 2.”

Right up to the “Cobra Kai” series finale, “Ex-Degenerate,” there was a version of this list where Master Kim Sun-Yung was sitting pretty on top of the power ranking, hurling snide insults at everyone underneath. However, the aging martial arts teacher drops entirely outside the Top 10 (as well as the mortal coil) at the final hour courtesy of his own granddaughter, who kills him in hand-to-hand combat within seconds. Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) ends the show in charge of Master Kim’s Korean proto-Cobra Kai school, and honestly? Fully deserved. 

Da-Eun is a lifelong student of Master Kim’s Tang Soo Do. This alone means that she has more knowledge of the martial art than either John Kreese or Terry Silver, who only studied under the master for some years in their youth. In “Cobra Kai” season 5, not a single newly-hired Cobra Kai sensei dares question her position as the head sensei, despite the considerable pool of martial arts talent involved. The moves we see Da-Eun execute tend to be decisive and brutal, and she’s completely able to take down two much larger men in the blink of an eye. In season 5’s “Head of the Snake,” she mops the floor with noted karate fighters Tory and Sam, while smiling serenely. 

All of this is already enough to put Da-Eun in the Sensei Wolf bracket of laughably overpowered fighters. However, her lack of egoistical showing off and newly-acquired mastery of Master Kim’s secret killing technique put her head and shoulders above Wolf and every other fighter in the show … except for one. 

Johnny Lawrence may not always realize it himself, but he’s the main character of “Cobra Kai.” The journey between the season 1 opener “Ace Degenerate” and the series finale “Ex-Degenerate” is his arc from a self-admitted lost cause who’s stuck in the time before his “The Karate Kid” defeat to a loving family man and respected professional. We learn a lot about the man on the way, and one of the things we learn is that he’s the best fighter in the show.

Johnny takes his licks throughout the series, sure. However, as Terry Silver finds out in “Eunjangdo” when Johnny drops by to return a season 5 sneak kick attack, he always comes back for more — a trait Johnny shares with his old master Kreese, incidentally. Over the course of the series, Johnny victoriously tackles teenage gangs, MMA fighters, and karate champions alike. He displays tremendous striking power, adaptability, and complete independency from mystical secret moves of the Crane Kick variety. Instead, he comes up with his own techniques and methods, and is good enough to found a brand new dojo with its own distinctive style at a short notice.

Sensei Lawrence is in the top fighter discussion pretty much throughout “Cobra Kai’s” run, as the show feeds him a steady stream of tentpole battles that he generally does very well in. Apart from his prowess on the mat, he’s almost certainly the show’s best street fighter, as he’s able to demolish multiple far younger opponents in the very first episode and does inhumanly well against multiple Cobra Kai senseis in the season 5 finale. The tactical and disciplined way he takes down the deadly Sensei Wolf and finally gets to hold that championship trophy in “Ex-Degenerate” is simply icing on Johnny’s best fighter cake.