This article contains spoilers for the One Piece series.
The Straw Hat Pirates aren't the strongest crew out there, but they certainly have some fighters that really stand out, especially Luffy, Jinbe, Zoro, and, of course, Sanji. The crew's cook, Sanji is one of the Straw Hats' best fighters, and Oda always has big fights in mind for him. The last story will be filled with some intense encounters for Sanjias a potential battle against Saint Mars, or maybe even Saint Killingham. Fans are excited to see what Oda has in store for him.
Saint Rimoshifu Killingham
Member of the Holy Knights
Killingham is one of the four holy knights who has made an entrance at Elbaf, together with Gunko, Shamrock and Sommers. Killingham would be the perfect match of them for Sanji. Gunko will be Luffy's enemy, while Sommers is a swordsman and would be better suited to fight Zoro.
This leaves only Killingham, who wields the incredible power of Kirin Mythical Zoan. Sanji would be the perfect enemy for him in Elbaf, but to even take him on in this battle, he would have to learn Conqueror's Haki to bypass his immortality.
Brogy
A former ally became an enemy
Brogylike Dorry, was an ally of the Straw Hat Pirates. But during the events in Elbaf, they turned into enemies of Imu with the demonic contract, Akuwaru, and then Domi Reversi'd. Now they are both enhanced and have immortality and infinite regeneration.
Dorry and Brogy together are a Yonko level threat which can be shared between Sanji and Zoro. As with the Holy Knights and the Five Elders, Sanji would need to learn and master Conqueror's Haki to even have a shot against Brogy.
Sir Crocodile
Member of The Cross Guild
Cross Guild is a new rising threat in One Piece world. This guild was started by new Yonko Buggyand he has quite a few powerful minions, incl Dracule Mihawk and Sir Crocodile. Fans know that Zoro will eventually take on Mihawk, but that leaves a big question as to who Sanji could fight in the Cross Guild.
While this isn't necessarily a match-up that will happen, at the moment the only character available for him to fight would be Sir Crocodile. After all, it wouldn't be the first time a Straw Hat fought a former enemy of Luffy, as Zoro did the same to Rob Lucci on Egghead.
Admiral Kizaru
A naval admiral
If there's anyone Admiral fans have always wanted Sanji to have an all-out battle with, this is definitely it Kizaru. Kizaru has Pika Pika no Miand his fighting style is focused on kicking with speed. This is the exact same style that Sanji uses, and fans know that he is also an incredibly fast fighter who kicks with tremendous ferocity. Sanji and Kizaru had a small encounter on Egghead Island, but this only whetted the fans' appetite for an all-out battle.
Cousin
A former Admiral of the Marines
Kuzan, formerly also called Admiral Aokijihas left the Marines and is now part of Blackbeard Pirates. Kuzan is powerful, with his Hie Hie no Miand is on par with current fleet Admiral Akainu.
Kuzan would definitely make a good matchup for Sanji, and it would be a battle between ice and fire. Considering Luffy will be fighting Blackbeard and Zoro will be fighting Shiryu, Sanji's matchup being Kuzan makes a lot of sense. This makes even more sense when you consider the fact that The cousin kidnapped Pudding from Whole Cake Island, and it will be up to Sanji to save her and punish Kuzan for this folly.
Saint Marcus Mars
A member of the Five Elders
The Five Elders, also known as the Gorosei, attacked the Straw Hat Pirates and their allies during the events of the Egghead arc. All Gorosei are impressive and exhibit immortality as well powerful Yokai forms. One that stands out as a potential rival for Sanji in the future is Saint Marcus Mars.
Saint Mars's Yokai is an Itsumadewhich is a giant bird that can use some fire attacks. This would be a great fight and display Sanji's flying skillswhich he himself claims is his strong point. Of course, Sanji must first unlock and learn to control the Conqueror's Haki firstsomething that will definitely happen during Elbaf. After that he will be ready to face Mars.
One Piece Chapter 1165 is out this week. As usual, One Piece will be released on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece releases at 12pm JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on November 9th. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1165 is November 9, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.
- Release date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Author
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
