Tony Jaa has quietly become one of the most decorated martial arts movie stars of the 21st century, and his best fight scenes prove it. First debuting in 2003’s Ong-Bak, Tony Jaa helped popularize Muay Thai as a fighting style across the world, solidifying him as one of the greatest martial arts actors ever.

Over his illustrious career, Tony Jaa’s best movies have proven his prowess with some truly incredible fight scenes. From intimate one-on-one duels charged with emotion to spectacular brawls that see him tear through entire crowds of people, Jaa’s time on the big screen has left an impact in more ways than one.

Tony Jaa Vs. Brian O’Connor

Furious 7

Of Tony Jaa’s appearances in Western movies like Monster Hunter and XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, his time in the Fast and Furious franchise is easily the best use of his skill. Though his first fight with Paul Walker’s Brian O’Connor inside the тιԍнт confines of a truck is great, it’s their rematch in a factory that steals the film.

From Jaa’s aerial acrobatics utilizing the walls of the arena to the impromptu slide down a staircase while using a metal door like a surfboard, the setting is creatively utilized by both fighters. Given more room to shine, Tony Jaa’s talents are utilized unbelievably well in his Hollywood debut.

Tony Jaa Vs. Michael Jai White

Skin Trade

Skin Trade might not be the most memorable movie in Tony Jaa’s catalog, but his showdown in the film against fellow legendary martial arts movie legend Michael Jai White is more than worth taking notice of. Here, Jaa plays a Thai detective cracking down on a human trafficking ring, leading to a confrontation with White’s criminal character.

After disarming him of his weapon, Michael Jai White’s character opts to toss it aside and engage Tony Jaa in hand-to-hand combat. This is a choice that pays off amazingly well for the audience, who get to watch his smooth, controlled movements go up against the frenzied kineticism of Tony Jaa’s technique.

Tony Jaa And Wu Jing Vs. Max Zhang

SPL 2: A Time for Consequences

Despite being a named sequel with nothing to do with the original, SPL 2: A Time for Consequences arguably outdoes anything present in the first SPL. Here, Wu Jing plays a new character that ultimately teams up with Tony Jaa’s prison guard to take down their mutual enemy, the prison’s warden, played by Max Zhang.

Seeing Tony Jaa’s Muay Thai work together with Wu Jing’s Kung Fu to take on Max Zhang is an amazing spectacle, but the warden proves to be too wily for their combined efforts. Some unbelievable moves are punctuated with a climactic finale that sees all three fighters dangling out of a window in a daisy-chain of suspense.

Tony Jaa And Iko Uwais Vs. Scott Adkins

Triple Threat

A true who’s who of modern martial arts stars, the cast of Triple Threat is loaded with huge names, but only Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais got the honor of taking on Scott Adkins’ vile bad guy. Though Uwais only shows up briefly for an ᴀssist, the entire drag-down battle between the two co-stars is great fun.

Scott Adkins’ signature taekwondo finally meets its match in Tony Jaa’s Muay Thai, trading dramatic flying kicks and painful-looking leg locks. The gradual shift in cinematography as the emotional state of Tony Jaa’s character rages onwards is a nice touch, with Adkins’ sleazy villain nearly stealing the fight with a hidden blade.

Tony Jaa Vs. Maresse Crump

The Protector 2

The sequel to The Protector once again sees Tony Jaa risking everything to keep his prized Thai elephants safe, this time being put up against Wu-Tang Clan’s own RZA as the villain in one of the best movie performances by a musician. RZA’s right-hand man is played by none other than the underrated American martial arts prodigy, Maresse Crump.

Jaa and Crump’s rematch sees them toppling from the upper floor of a building to the subway tracks below, where the ambient electricity of the rail lines charges their movements with lightning and lightsaber noises. The special effects and wirework might be uncharacteristically corny for Jaa’s work, but the fight’s sheer spectacle and flow is undeniable.

The Prison Battle Royale

Ong-Bak 3

While Ong-Bak 2 reinvented the story by changing Jaa’s character from a modern monk to an ancient Thai warrior, the third film in the franchise continues the previous story, returning once again to Siam in the 1400s. The standout fight here is easily Tony Jaa’s participation in a mᴀssive prison riot that devolves into a brutal free-for-all fight.

Using the chains that bind him as a weapon, Jaa is able to flummox the guards that come rushing for him with powerful blocks and spinning fists, combining them with his unbelievable acrobatics to magnificent effect. Though he’s eventually swarmed by too many soldiers to fight off, Jaa proves that he’s just as ᴅᴇᴀᴅly with a weapon as he is with his fists here.

The Village Fight

Ong-Bak 2

The first film of the Ong-Bak franchise to recast Jaa as a warrior in Thailand’s ancient past, the emotional arc of Ong-Bak 2 is spectacular both emotionally and physically. After learning a wide variety of different martial arts forms from various masters, Jaa’s character is betrayed, forced to fight his former teachers in an abandoned village.

It’s great to see Tony Jaa demonstrate martial arts prowess outside his signature Muay Thai, including everything from the dual sword-and-scabbard techniques of krabi krabong to the traditional Chinese art of wushu. The emotional significance of the fight’s betrayal only adds to the desolate landscape of the ghost town arena, as well.

The Bone-Breaking Finale

The Protector

The original The Protector, also billed locally under its native тιтle Tom-Yum-Goong, sets up its story by having Tony Jaa chase down a literal living elephant rather than a Buddha statue. When he discovers that the beloved animal he sought is now only a skeleton, he enters a vengeance-fueled rage that allows him to take on a hilariously huge army of bad guys.

After turning his beloved pachyderm into nothing but bones, Jaa responds to the villains in kind by breaking all of theirs, delivering a series of nasty-looking limb locks that all end in a visceral crunch. It gets even better as Tony Jaa straps two mᴀssive elephant femurs to his forearms and takes down the remaining burly bald enforcers with them.

The Temple Fight

The Protector

The Protector isn’t even close to having only one standout martial arts fight in the overall career of Tony Jaa, with even the events leading up to the absurd finale battle royale being nothing short of peak hand-to-hand combat in cinema. At one point, Tony Jaa finds himself facing off against two ᴀssᴀssins in a temple that’s both on fire and flooding.

First, Jaa faces Lateef Crowder’s capoeirista, who pits his dancing, spinning style against Jaa’s Muay Thai, making for an amazing exhibition match as glistening water trails both fighters’ limbs. Next, a sword-wielding wushu ᴀssᴀssin takes a crack at him, utilizing vicious strikes and flexible movements. Their combined efforts and intensity are well rewarded.

The Stairway Fight

The Protector

Finally, the best fight in not only The Protector but Tony Jaa’s career as a whole has to be the extended battle that directly follows his encounter with the two very different styles of martial artists in the temple. Ascending a winding path of spiral stairs, Tony Jaa climbs up a building infested with henchmen dedicated to keeping him out.

Inspiring some of the classic one-take hallway fights, the stairway sequence is an elaborate oner that sees Jaa trample, flip, punch, and dodge his myriad opponents. The kinetic camera, frantic breakbeat soundtrack, and stunning use of Tony Jaa‘s talents leave this amazing sequence as the pinnacle of his career.