5 fighters who live the lives of Cobra Kai characters

#2. Cobra Kai’s Samantha LaRusso and ONE Championship’s Angela Lee

Samantha LaRusso is the eldest of two kids in the LaRusso household, and we see in Cobra Kai that no matter how she tries to avoid it, martial arts is her birthright.

When she begins training, Samantha shows a natural ability in karate, and was easily molded in the ways of Miyagi-do. In the second season’s finale, Samantha was beaten badly by her rival, Tory Nichols, which shook her confidence. She has since overcome that, and in the latest season of the series, she appears to be eager to improve her skills by adding new philosophies.

In ONE Championship, we know of another strong woman that was meant to be a martial artist – Angela Lee.

Lee’s parents are both martial artists, and unlike Cobra Kai’s Samantha, she embraced her path to martial arts early. The reigning ONE women’s atomweight world champion started competing when she was six years old and racked up multiple accolades in various disciplines.

She earned the nickname ‘Unstoppable’ and was indeed that in her career, until she sought glory in the strawweight division. There, she was stopped for the first time and experienced the first back-to-back losses in her career.

The losses may have shaken her a bit, but similar to Samantha in the series, Lee has since shrugged it off and has put her energy into becoming an even better fighter.

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#1. Cobra Kai’s Miguel Diaz and ONE Championship’s Yuya Wakamatsu

Miguel Diaz is one of the main characters of the Cobra Kai series. He is a new kid in the neighborhood looking to make himself at home while living with his mother and grandmother.

After being protected from bullies by Lawrence, Miguel begged him to teach him his ways. This led Lawrence to re-open the dojo that taught him Karate – Cobra Kai.

Miguel took everything that his sensei taught to heart and applied it to his life. With no male role model to bring him up, he created a strong bond with Lawrence which helped him overcome challenges and excel in Karate.

In real life, Japanese flyweight champion Yuya Wakamatsu may have a similar backstory to Cobra Kai’s Miguel.

Originally from Kagoshima, Japan, Wakamatsu had a difficult childhood, as his parents divorced when he was in middle school. Eventually, his mom and two sisters moved to Tokyo, while he stayed in Kagoshima, working as a carpenter to help earn money for his family.

He often got into trouble and fistfights as a youth and a senior recommended martial arts to him. He would watch PRIDE and admire Ryo ‘Piranha’ Chonan’s fighting spirit that resonated with him.

When he moved to Tokyo a year after his family went there, Wakamatsu didn’t have friends. He sought to find refuge in martial arts, and Chonan’s Tribe Tokyo MMA was the only place he wanted to join.

Like Miguel, Wakamatsu has taken everything Chonan has taught him to heart. His affinity to his mentor is so strong that he even adopted Chonan’s nickname, as Wakamatsu is also known as ‘Little Piranha'.