10 Street Fighter Fights That Need to Happen in the 2026 Movie

The upcoming Street Fighter movie is looking to redeem the franchise’s long-running streak of film adaptations that didn’t hit their target, so to speak. It’s a hefty burden to bear, to say the least, and a lot is riding on the film being successful. A lot of that is due to fan expectations. After all, we’ve all been waiting a long time to get a Street Fighter movie that does the game justice.

Of course, in order to pull off a victory, the film has to deliver when it comes to the titular street fighting itself. And all fans are hoping to see some of the game's most legendary fights come to the silver screen in epic fashion once and for all. If you’re going just off the IMBD cast list, there are a number of classic match-ups that could happen in the Street Fighter movie.

While we have seen some glimpses of upcoming and possible fights in the few trailers that have been released, there are still plenty of fights that we have no clue about that may be featured in the final movie. These are some of the bigger ones that we’re hoping will make the final cut.

10 Dan vs A Gentle Breeze

Hardly A Street Fighter

A true joke of a character, Dan Hibiki was originally created to be the weirdest and most foolish of all Street Fighters. Dan is supposed to be untalented and lacking in any true skills or strength, so to see him just get flattened by any sort of inanimate object or deus ex machina in the upcoming movie seems like an appropriate enough matchup. Maybe Dan slips on a banana peel, or a piano falls on his head.

Although I'd love to see Dan get beat by something truly harmless as it would be even more comical. Something like a feather falling on his head and knocking him out could be appropriate, or maybe he gets beat up by a kid. The important thing is that Dan needs to be humiliated in some way in this film.

9 Blanka vs E. Honda

A Big Boy Brawl

The savage sumo E. Honda and the wild beast from Brazil Blanka seem a bit out of place in the cast. And neither of them really have a rival of any sort in the upcoming film. So, why not have them go at it for a couple of rounds? A scene where Blanka tries to take a bite out of that big sumo belly would make for a classic moment of cinema.

I’m willing to admit that I may be a bit biased when it comes to this particular match-up too, since Blanka and E.Honda are the two characters I use the most in Street Fighter 2. Still, it would make a solid match-up and would give both characters something to do in the movie.

8 Dhalsim vs Zangief

A Classic Mismatch

In the Street Fighter game series, there are a few characters that make for an unbalanced match. Dhalsim’s long reach and fire-breath moves tend to nullify Zangief’s grapple-based combat moves. It’s interesting that one of the game’s toughest characters is at such a disadvantage against one of its most frail, a true juxtaposition to say the least.

The idea that this imbalanced rivalry between Zangief and Dhalsim could carry over to the new Street Fighter movie is an intriguing one to say the least. We’ve already seen in the film trailer that Zangief will be pulling off some of his signature body slams, but we have yet to see how Dhalsim’s powers will be portrayed on the big screen. It could make for an even more unfair brawl.

7 Guile vs Zangief

A Cold War

An all-American family man versus a roided-out Russian wrestler seems like the most corny, pseudo-patriotic match-up that we could hope for in the new Street Fighter movie. Considering how big they’re going with Guile’s character (and hair), this fight is just begging to happen. It could be like Rocky 4 when he was facing off against Ivan Drago.

Given that the new Street Fighter movie seems to be leaning into the camp and cheesiness of it all, this fight feels like it needs to happen. Depending on how they play it, either one could come out victorious, although given the current global events, I’d imagine Guile would be taking the W in this fight.

6 Cammy vs Chun-Li

Clash of the Thighs

The trailer for the new Street Fighter movie features an intense and sassy tet-a-tet between Chun-Li and Cammy that’s bound to lead to a savage brawl at some point. More to the point, these are two of the baddest baddies in the entire Street Fighter universe. A match-up between Cammy’s cannon spike and Chun-Li’s spinning bird kick is exactly what fans of the series want from the new film.

If this fight doesn’t happen at some point in the movie, it would be an utter travesty. Fans deserve to see the ultimate showdown between the two queens of the Street Fighter series. Hopefully the film delivers.

5 Ken vs Ryu

A Heated Rivalry

The friendship and rivalry of Ryu and Ken have fueled the Street Fighter series for as long as it has been around. The idea that these two won’t be sparring or actually going at each other in the upcoming movie is completely absurd. In fact, we’ve already caught glimpses of them throwing hands in the trailers, though the context has yet to be revealed.

In some way, Ken and Ryu are always fighting, since they both push each other to be better martial artists. But in a much more traditional way, they also beat the living crap out of one another all the time. We’ll have to see how much time they spend in-fighting when the film launches.

4 Ryu vs Sagat

Deep Scars

While Sagat isn’t listed as a character in the new Street Fighter movie, I can’t imagine that we won’t at least get a flashback to his pivotal fight with Ryu in the original Street Fighter arcade game. When Ryu beat Sagat to become the winner of the first Street Fighter tournament, it left the Muay Thai boxer with a massive scar across his chest and a burning desire for revenge.

This is too iconic of a moment that plays into the game’s history too much to not show up in some form or another in a new movie. It’s honestly already a bit off that Vega, Balrog, Cammy, and Juli are all showing up in the movie as part of team Shadaloo, but we have yet to see anything about Sagat. Hopefully, they’re just trying to keep some surprises from being spoiled for filmgoers.

3 Akuma vs Ryu

Fighting Your Demons

It sure does seem like everyone wants a piece of Ryu and Akuma is no exception to that rule. The battle between these two is essentially one for Ryu’s soul, with Akuma constantly trying to push him to give into his dark rage. In many ways, it’s an external manifestation of Ryu’s inner conflict for control and peace. Of course, I don’t think Ryu’s inner psyche could ever kick his butt with a raging demon special attack like Akuma can.

How could Akuma be in a Street Fighter movie and not go after Ryu? It would just be a complete and total waste of a character. If this fight didn’t happen in the upcoming Street Fighter movie we’d all be worse for it.

2 Vega vs Chun-Li

Destroying Something Beautiful

Old school fans of the Street Fighter franchise may recall a rather legendary fight that occurred between Vega and Chun-Li in the original anime movie. To say that Vega and his precious face got extremely messed up in that brawl would be an understatement. Many folks are hoping for a rematch between these two heavy hitters in the new live-action movie.

Vega is known for being a vain, shallow character who worries about getting his pretty face beaten up in brawls, which you want to punch him even more. Hopefully, those character traits come across in the new film as well, and give folks a reason to want to see Chun-Li kick his face one more time.

1 Chun-Li vs M. Bison

Will Justice Be Served?

Throughout the Street Fighter video game series, Chun-Li’s whole reason for entering the tournament was to take out M. Bison and get vengeance for her dead father. I would not be surprised if that’s her driving motivation in the upcoming film as well. However, M. Bison is the big bad final boss, and Ryu is sure to be waiting in the wings if something goes wrong. So, it may not be a given that Chun-Li is going to take the win in this match-up.

Still, a fight between these two is bound to be an epic moment if and when it happens in the upcoming Street Fighter movie. If we don’t see them throw hands, or feet, in some form or another, it would be a major let down. Chun-Li deserves a shot at the title.