Dragon Ball Super: 7 Ways The Goku vs Jiren Fight Could End

Goku Wins

This is the easiest, most obvious, and (unfortunately), most likely scenario: Goku achieves Perfect Ultra Instinct (through whatever means) and finally bests Jiren in battle. After that, Goku gets to make the Super Dragon Ball wish, and probably doesn't something benevolent like restore all the universes lost in the tournament, so he has a lot of great new opponents to spar with.

Jiren Wins

The most obvious twist to this final bout of the Tournament of Power would be seeing Goku's newest power-up still proving unable to match the might of Jiren and battle, leading to the Saiyan hero's first true major loss. The interesting thing in this scenario would be the outcome determined by Jiren's Super Dragon Balls wish, and the fate of erasure facing Universe 7.

Draw

One unexpected way that Dragon Ball Super could go with this fight would be to declare no winner in the Tournament of Power. From the previews, it seems that Goku's Ultra Instinct, even in its perfected form, won't be enough to simply outclass Jiren. It's going to be a fight in which Goku looks to suffer some pretty hard hits, even with the power to attack and dodge faster than the speed of thought. Again, while the gimmick of a draw might be a disappointing ending for the Tournament of Power, the impact on the next big storyline could potentially be massive, if it's revealed that Universes 7 and 11 are allowed to survival for some ulterior motive...

New Threat Revealed

Closely related to fan theories about a stalemate ending to the Tournament of Power, is the idea that Universe 7 and 11 could both remain in the picture for one very important reason: there's a new threat on the horizon that will require the strength of both universes' fighters.

This notion has already been seeded in this "Universal Survival Arc" storyline, with questions about the mysterious evil-doer that killed Jiren's family and friends, or the role and power of the Grand Priest. Whatever the case, Goku and Jiren's battle may end up being a testing ground to bring out new levels of power in the most powerful fighters in the universe - something the Zenos may reveal that they needed, in order to find champions to stop the greater threat looming on the horizon

Freeza FTW

Fans have been noticing one big red herring in the Tournament of Power's final founds: Freeza has been largely MIA - but he's definitely not KIA. Barring some massive twist (like Freeza making a noble sacrifice), it seems like the evil emperor could manage to emerge as the last man standing in the ring, if Goku and Jiren ultimately eliminate one another. If he wins it for Universe 7, then Freeza's Super Dragon Ball wish could be the major game-changer that ends DBS, and sets up the circumstances of the next series.

Divine War

This long-standing fan theory has posited that the Tournament of Power may not have a clear ending at all - that in fact, the tournament could be interrupted by all-out war amongst the divine beings of the universe!

This theory goes back to speculation about the Grand Priest's questionable presence at that tournament, or fan theory that connects Universe 11 God of Destruction Belmod to the evil-doer that killed Jiren's family. If Belmod and/or The Grand Priest truly have some darker scheme in mind, then either Goku or Jiren's win could force them to show their hand, either to escape erasure (Belmod's Universe 11) or stopping a mortal from challenging their plans (Perfect Ultra Instinct Goku).

Cliffhanger

Yeah yeah, you probably don't want to hear this one, after investing in Dragon Ball Super for so many years, but regardless, it could happen! We've already broken down all the ways Dragon Ball Super could leave us hanging on a cliffhanger - and it's still a very real possibility. The showrunners may not have come up with a suitable answer to all of the series' many dangling plot threads, and could simply buy time to come up with what's next! So while we may see a stopping point to Goku and Jiren's fight, the full ramifications of the fight might not be revealed until the next Dragon Ball series!

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Are you excited for Goku and Jiren's final fight? How do you think it will end? Let us know in the comments!

Dragon Ball Super airs on Crunchyroll Saturday evenings at 7:15 p.m. CST. Adult Swim airs the English dub during its Toonami block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m, and is now available to stream on FunimationNOW and Amazon Video.