Can Johnny Lawrence Beat Mike Barnes? - Cobra Kai Explained

Johnny Lawrence showed his might against Daniel LaRusso, but what if he went up against Mike Barnes from Karate Kid 3 with Terry Silver and Sensei Kreese?
I think this would be a tough battle.

Karate’s bad boy vs Johnny Lawrence, pupil star of Sensei Kreese Cobra Kai Dojo.
Who wins, and who faces ultimate defeat?
Well, to really understand this, we need to dive deep into the lore, abilities, psychology and above all, to strip them both of plot armor.
We all know Johnny Lawrence from when he was a Senior, and then again 34 years later as Sensei Lawrence. We only know Mike from when he was around the same age as Daniel in KK3, so let’s go with a young Johnny and a young Mike.

Mike was the national champion, and nick named Karate’s bad boy because of how he broke technical rules in tournaments. He did Karate for a living, and he had no honor, no code, he was a wild animal and that made him dangerous. Chozen and Johnny both have a considerable amount of pride and honor in fighting, however, Barnes, does not. As long as he wins, that’s all that matters. That said, he was a 10th degree black belt and showed no mercy. He was as violent as he was money hungry, and we all saw how hard he bargained with Silver.
We need to assess this fight in two scenarios, one on the street, and one in a sanctioned tournament.

Skill wise, Barnes had practiced longer. He looked older, and physically was bigger than Johnny from a muscular stand point. In a tournmanent, Barnes would defy all rules and bludgeon Johnny, doing what Johnny did to Daniel in the all valley tournament, meaning, he would sweep the leg, the arm, the face, and anything else he could illegally hit. Tournaments work on a point to point system. He would just hit Johnny illegally, lost a point, then win a point back, until Johnny was so hurt and battered, the victory would have been easy. I like to think, and this is my personal theory, that this is one of the ways Barnes won all his tournaments, by just playing dirty. The problem with this here is, Johnny, albeit being a dirty fighter when we saw him against Daniel, clearly had a problem with it when Kreese told him to sweep the leg, you could see Johnny has more of a moral code than Barnes does. If there was a story just about these two characters, then Barnes would be the bad guy, and Johnny, the lesser of two evils, if we can call him that even. Johnny would hold back, and he wouldn’t play to Mike’s cheap moves, this would give Barnes the advantage, and if in a tournament, Mike would win.

Now, if it were on the street. This would be a little different, maybe. And I say maybe because of what i mentioned earlier about Mike not having any honour, he would take a bat and fight you against your fists, just to win, Johnny was good at street fights. I imagine with all his bravado and the Cobra Kai gang, he definitely would start and finish many street fights in the Valley. I just can’t see him not trying to fight anyone who would oppose him anywhere, at the movies, at the mall, out at the beach, the Cobra Kai gang in the 80’s were lethal, and they showed no mercy to anyone. This gives Johnny the advantage when it comes to street fights, because he was in the gang, as opposed to Barnes, who maybe was more of a lone wolf.
They are both hot heads, and they both are very athletic. If it were to come to a fight in the streets, and the Cobra Kai gang were surrounding Johnny in an alley, cheering him on as he fought Mike Barnes, I think his pride of being the Cobra Kai poster boy wouldn’t allow him to lose. I think in that scenario, Johnny would kick Mike’s ass and leave him in a puddle on the ground. This is of course, if Mike doesn’t get hold of a bat or club or heck even the top of a trash can. That said, I’m sure all the Cobra Kais carried butterfly knives with them in their pockets. Cmon, it’s the 80’s, greaser and soc’s still existed, sorta, ok well at least there were some Benders out there with knives so we know it could happen. Now, at the very least, if Mike were to win, the Cobra Kais would jump in and beat the crap out of him. Either way, in a street fight, Mike would lose. It’d be a close fight, for sure, but I think Johnny would outsmart Mike, who is just pure rage with technique, whereas Johnny has a lot more to lose on the line, so he’s going to definitely be very calculated.

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