No Mercy: The Top 10 Best Fights in Cobra Kai (Part 2)

Fans are preparing to say farewell to Cobra Kai this week on Netflix, with the final 5 episodes of the series about to drop. Anticipation is at an all-time high to see how the hit show wraps up six seasons of intense conflict and karate competition with one final showdown in the Valley.

In honor of this momentous milestone, we’re counting down the top 10 battles across all six action-packed seasons. We previously covered Cobra Kai fights ranking 10-6 on our list, but now it’s time to see who made it out of the qualifiers into the tournament finals.

Beware spoilers!

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5. Sam vs. Tory — “The Rise”

“Trust your instincts. Use everything you’ve learned from me and Sensei Lawrence. All of it.“

Samantha LaRusso and Tory Nichols have had one of the tensest rivalries across five seasons of Cobra Kai (since our resident bad girl didn’t join the cast until season 2). From their first encounter gone awry, Tory has felt unjustly wronged by Sam and Sam has been tormented by Tory’s bullying. They’ve had plenty of unmoderated encounters off the mat, showing one another the push and pull of their fighting styles and attitudes. Season 4’s All-Valley Tournament, however, puts them on (supposedly) even footing where they can both face one another without fear. With each dojo within striking distance of the overall win, it all comes down to the Girls’ Division final for Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do’s leading ladies.

This is an extremely dynamic match, scored by title themes “Queen Cobra” and “The Bonsai Badass” as the two girls leave all their aggression and rivalry on the mat. While viewers learn later that the referee was paid off by Terry Silver to call the fight in Tory’s favor, there are incredible moments for their character growth throughout — from Sam rising above her fear to combine the Miyagi-Do defense with Eagle Fang’s offense to Tory’s own morality and desire for a fair fight breaking through even as Silver encourages her to openly cheat.

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4. The Sekai Taikai Fiasco — “Eunjangdo”

“Cut the feed. Cut the feed!“

The season 6 tournament centerpiece, the Sekai Taikai, represents the global peak of martial arts competition. As such, it’s a rather grueling challenge for all combatants, especially those in Miyagi-Do. While the team does have some worthy moments (like the incredible comeback against the Dublin Thunder dojo), for once Cobra Kai is far from the only challenge they have to face on their path to the finals. And when a drug scandal upsets the rankings, it’s only a matter of time before emotions completely boil over in Barcelona.

This fight is massive and chaotic, filled with a variety of fighting disciplines from international dojos all getting a piece of the action. It clearly aims to be the biggest, baddest battle of the franchise. But most notably, it’s the first time across the whole series that a fight results in a fatal outcome (though others have come close). The episode is fittingly named after Sensei Kreese’s eunjangdo knife, which ends up killing Kwon after his reckless attempt to take down Axel of the Iron Dragons dojo.

While the ultimate payoff of this tragedy won’t arrive until season 6 part 3 (not long to go now!), you can’t deny how chilling of a cliffhanger this is, as the tournament’s organizers realize the lethal incident has been broadcast worldwide. Every past fight’s outcome seems almost quaint and petty by comparison.

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3. Robby vs. Hawk — “The Rise”

“Their championship match will be decided, for the first time since 1985, by sudden death overtime!“

Not to be outdone by the previously mentioned Girls’ Division fight between Sam and Tory, the Boys’ Division finals sees Cobra Kai’s Robby squaring off against Miyagi-Do’s Hawk for the gold. Perhaps no fighter has switched dojos as often as Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz (pulling a hat trick of Cobra Kai, Eagle Fang, and Miyagi-Do tutelage), meaning he’s made friends and enemies of nearly everyone on the mat at one point or another. And when he steps in for an injured Miguel, this fight truly is his time to redeem himself.

Given their mutual experience in Cobra Kai, this battle is gripping, evenly matched, and highly advanced — evidenced by the fact that the match ends in a 1-1 tie, leading to a sudden death overtime (last seen in Karate Kid III between Daniel LaRusso and Mike Barnes). And when the shirts come off, Hawk really has the chance to spread his wings (and show off that hilarious-slash-epic back tattoo once again).

What makes this fight interesting is that, despite their current affiliations, Robby’s foundation is in the defensive Miyagi-Do style, while Hawk got his start in Cobra Kai and feels out of his depth now that he represents Daniel’s dojo. Still, blow for blow, this is one of the most action-packed struggles that brings some confidence back to Cobra Kai’s enemies.

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2. Cobra Kai Break-In/Silver vs. Daniel — “Head of the Snake”

“Rule number one: A man can’t stand, he can’t fight. Rule number two: A man can’t breathe, he can’t fight. Rule number three: A man can’t see, he can’t fight.“

The season 5 finale is a massive conflict that brings every dojo together under one roof. While the senseis start their fight at Terry Silver’s home, the students of Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do (merged into one dojo after the All-Valley 2019) launch a break-in on the new flagship Cobra Kai dojo. This space is highly sterilized, commodified, and represents Silver’s soulless plans to spread Cobra Kai’s ideologies worldwide. It’s an all-out brawl in which it appears Cobra Kai has the upper hand (and fist, and roundhouse kick). But it’s the arrival of Daniel LaRusso and the other adults that pushes this conflict with the villainous snake to heel.

When the fight narrows down to just Daniel versus Silver, it’s a cathartic, climactic bout between the Karate Kid himself and the so-called former sensei who harassed and terrorized him as a boy. The motivations and traumas of the characters have evolved with greater depth since the flashy but shallow ’80s threequel Karate Kid Part III. It brings back echoes of the Quicksilver method with more narrative resonance as the unscrupulous technique is turned on its creator. But this clash truly reminds us it’s not how you start a fight but how you finish that shows your true strength. A crane kick to the face ought to do the trick, right?

It’s All About Technique

It’s important to note that Daniel LaRusso doesn’t use his signature crane kick in any of the preceding episodes of Cobra Kai. In season 1, Johnny taught it to Miguel specifically to mock Daniel at the first All-Valley Tournament of the series. Many other aerial techniques have been utilized by all the fighters across Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do, and Eagle Fang dojos. But in his ultimate (well, mostly ultimate) standoff with Terry Silver, who got in his head for decades after the events of KK3, Daniel unleashes this iconic attack in an extremely satisfying end to Cobra Kai’s reign of terror in the Valley.

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Honorable Mentions

Before we get to No. 1, we have some Honorable Mentions. While these fights didn’t quite reach the epic heights of the others on this list, their contributions to character development and dramatic yet humorous framing make them worth a mention.

The Prom Scrum — “Party Time”

“You know, I’d kick your ass, but I promised your mom that I wouldn’t.“

With delinquents Robby and Tory attending prom courtesy of Terry Silver’s pocketbook, tensions run high with their cross-dojo rivals (and respective former romantic partners) Sam and Miguel. This informal afterparty scrum in Stingray’s pool yard is initiated by a very irritated Sam, who has had just enough of Tory’s mad-dogging and enough of Johnny Lawrence’s own controversial and Coors-soaked teachings to strike first against her rival.

The fight is short and far from the most technically impressive, but there’s something about watching the sparks fly while we see matchups of Sam and Robby (who previously dated), Tory and Miguel (same), Tory and Sam (worst enemies), and Robby and Miguel (just about the same) all get on each other’s nerves as they swap dance partners during the punchout. And when everyone ends up in the pool, it’s a total wash — until Sam and Tory get their much more dynamic All-Valley rematch.

Daniel and Johnny vs. the Chop Shop — “Nature Vs. Nurture”

“I should have known better than to team up with a lunatic like you.“

Like all the best buddy comedy duos, Daniel and Johnny couldn’t be more diametrically opposed. By season 3, they’re reluctantly working together to find Robby (Johnny’s son and Daniel’s student), who is on the run after his violent actions in the season 2 finale. But that doesn’t mean these two old rivals like each other or even agree on one fighting style to get the job done.

When they track a stolen van to a local chop shop, Daniel and Johnny end up in an all-out brawl with some lowlifes. Still, they eventually end up sparring with each other both physically and verbally as much as they do the thugs. This fight is one of the first times we get to see these two iconic rivals on the same side of the fight for once, but it’s clear time and age hasn’t healed all the ills of their past. Plus, it has all the action of a classic beat’em up game, with its own “Chop Shop” theme music making an overall fairly memorable, if short, brawl.

Johnny vs. the Bullies — “Ace Degenerate”

“Trust me, you guys are pissing off the wrong guy on the wrong day, alright?“

Our only entry on this list from season 1, and in fact from the series premiere, Johnny’s confrontation of Miguel’s bullies set the stage for the entire thesis of Cobra Kai. Back when the show was a YouTube TV Original, no one knew what it would grow into. But in this moment, we see the disgraced Johnny Lawrence turn the Miyagi formula on its head, fending off a group of teenage dirtbags and defending Miguel before becoming his sensei and passing on the teachings of Cobra Kai.

Granted, it’s not entirely selfless of him. Johnny is spurred into action defending his car after Miguel is pushed onto the hood, and after the first kick he’s already a little winded. He even gets pepper sprayed in the face by local cops for his troubles at the end of the fight. But this moment marks the start of an incredible story that evolves (and even redeems) many of the most iconic ’80s movie villains and introduces the martial arts saga to an entirely new generation.

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1. The All-School Brawl — “No Mercy”

“I’m gonna get a teacher.“

The tenets of Cobra Kai karate are: Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy. The season 2 finale, aptly titled, “No Mercy,” does just that. At this point the show itself was at a precipice awaiting renewal, and they left fans on a cliffhanger so severe that there would have been explosive brawls just like this one if things were left unresolved. After Tory attacks Sam for kissing Miguel at a party, the entire school erupts in a battle of dojo ideologies and petty rivalries — it’s Miyagi-Do versus Cobra Kai on a scale yet unseen by the Karate Kid franchise. Former friends, deadly enemies, and romantic rivals all come to blows without hesitation.

What makes this one so memorable is the sheer amount of combatants coupled with the tense original track “Hallway Hellscape” guiding the viewers through long tracking shots and multiple environment changes. The fight goes from the halls to the computer lab, out into the school lobby and up to the second floor staircase for the jaw-dropping (and Miguel-dropping) final blows that left a protagonist hospitalized, another expelled, and one on the run from the authorities.

While the students and their battle techniques have matured since this ridiculous-in-retrospect incident, it truly exemplifies the best of everything you could want from a Cobra Kai karate war — all-out action, emotion, and consequences that changed the rest of the series.

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No matter how it all ends, the journey of Cobra Kai has brought exciting new life to the Karate Kid story. Which is your favorite fight in all the franchise? Join the conversation with other fans over at Sideshow Social Network or in side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!