Dragon Ball is a series where martial arts is at the core of each and every fight. From powerful physical attacks to long-range ki blasts — there is a wealth of amazing battles that have featured a multitude of techniques used by the strongest fighters in Dragon Ball. All of these techniques play a central role during the various tournaments that are hosted throughout Dragon Ball across all of its series.
The World Martial Arts Tournament is one of the most notable tournaments that has played a major role across most arcs, with various spins on this structure being applied across the arcs in this long-running series. The quality of each tournament varies quite a bit, and the ranking below shows the relative quality of each tournament in Dragon Ball.
11 Uranai Baba's Tournament
The first chapter of Dragon Ball was filled to the brim with its fair share of excellent tournaments. However, the impromptu tournament hosted by Uranai Baba was a pretty inconsequential moment in the story.
It featured a fair share of decent fights but paled in comparison to the other tournaments in the series. Thankfully, the tournament didn't last for too long and Dragon Ball moved on to bigger and better things.
10 21st World Martial Arts Tournament
The first proper tournament that takes center stage during the events of Dragon Ball is the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament. It was an entertaining saga that saw Goku face off against the hilariously-named Jackie Chun in the finals.
In what would become a trend of sorts, Goku lost the final battle against what was ultimately his master in disguise. Master Roshi thought that both Goku and Krillin were getting too arrogant, and decided to school them both in the tournament to humble them.
9 28th World Martial Arts Tournament
This tournament was barely shown near the end of Dragon Ball Z. It served as more of an epilogue that introduced the reincarnation of Kid Buu, fittingly named Uub.
Their fight served as a way for Goku to test the powers of this new contestant. After gauging his powers, both martial artists flew off for training purposes.
8 25th World Martial Arts Tournament
The 25th World Martial Arts Tournament served as a stepping stone to introducing the threat of Babidi. The most notable moment in the tournament was easily when Gohan turned Super Saiyan, only for his energy to be leeched by Babidi's henchmen.
After some of the fighters left to encounter Babidi, the tournament turned into an impromptu Battle Royale. After only Mr. Satan and Android 18 were left in the ring, the latter struck a deal with the former to fake her loss in exchange for a ton of cash.
7 Intergalactic World Tournament
This tournament was featured in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound. It was a tournament organized by the millionaire X.S. Cash as a birthday gift for his child...but the arrival of Bojack and his group put a stop to this event in a definitive fashion.
What followed was a major beatdown when Gohan was almost taken out, until his father came to give him the strength he needed. This led to Gohan becoming Super Saiyan 2 and beating all his opponents to the ground...although this happened outside the confines of the tournament.
6 Other World Tournament
Dragon Ball Z was notable for featuring its fair share of filler, although not all of it was horrible by any means. This was especially true during the Other World Tournament arc that happened after Goku sacrificed his life to save Cell.
This arc introduced a great character called Pikkon, whom fans grew to love over the course of this tournament. The final fight was against him and Goku, which was apparently won by the Saiyan...only for the judges to decree that the battle was a draw since Goku technically went out of bounds.
5 Tournament Of Destroyers
Dragon Ball Super is a series that featured several tournaments. The first notable one was the Tournament of Destroyers between the fighters chosen by Beerus and Champa.
This was a decent arc that introduced the fighters of Universe 6...and that's about it. Most of the fights were a bit long and stretched out, although Goku's new Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken form was a joy to witness.
4 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament
Dragon Ball's major tournaments were in a class of their own, with the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament being no exception to this rule. The final fight saw Goku fight against Tien in a battle for the ages.
This wasn't just a battle of fists, but philosophies as well. The battle between the ideologies of the Turtle and Crane Schools was great to witness, with Goku ultimately being defeated by a narrow margin.
3 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament
The final tournament to feature in the original Dragon Ball featured the inclusion of Piccolo as well. At that time, the Demon King was one of the strongest foes in the entire series.
The final battle between Goku and Piccolo was a joy to witness, with both fighters giving it their all during the fight. For the first time, Goku came out victorious and resoundingly defeated Piccolo.
2 Tournament Of Power
Dragon Ball Super's run ended with the amazing Tournament of Power, which was simply incredible in many ways. It was a spectacle that showed just how far the Dragon Ball Super anime had come from what many people considered to be a rather lackluster start.
The sheer number of battles during this arc was great, with the looming threat of Jiren making him the central antagonist of this arc. Thankfully, Goku finally unlocked the power of a perfected Ultra Instinct and used it to great effect against Jiren to weaken the foe and let Universe 7 win this battle once and for all.
1 Cell Games
There's no denying that the best tournament arc in the series came in Dragon Ball Z. This was the Cell Games, which served as a flamboyant way for Cell to showcase his power to the entire world.
This arc was amazing and ended with Gohan unlocking one of the greatest transformations in the entire series. Of course, the battle was far from over here, but Gohan managed to use every ounce of his power to defeat Cell once and for all.