Olivia Richman is a seasoned esports journalist who has worked with Inven Global, Esports Illustrated, Esports.gg, and more. As an editor and writer at Esports Insider, she loves telling unique esports stories, especially within the FGC. When not working and gaming, Olivia loves collecting Kirby plush, eating sushi, and driving her cars at the track.
Image Credit: Red Bull Nobody would be surprised to see Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II win the Street Fighter 6 tournament at Evo Vegas 2026 . He’s considered one of the best SF6 players in the world right now. However, his journey to Evo this year was totally out of the ordinary for him.
Luckily, MenaRD has the right mindset to still win it all. At Evo Vegas 2026, MenaRD spoke with Esports Insider ahead of the tournament to discuss his unorthodox journey and what it has taken to overcome the obstacles in his path.
MenaRD didn’t have a very successful Evo Japan this year, which was quite shocking when taken at face value. He won Evo Japan 2025 after all. Not to mention he’d just won a first-to-10 exhibition match against Daigo Umehara , often referred to as the GOAT of Street Fighter.
Instead of focusing on upcoming tournaments, MenaRD decided to put his all into the Kemonomichi Legends LIVE . It was something he had been looking forward to for years. He first asked Daigo for the honor last year, clearly taking the idea of an exhibition match very seriously.
“It would be the greatest honor of my career if I had the opportunity to fight you in a first-to-10,” MenaRD wrote on X to the legend last year . “Since I was young, I have dedicated myself to preparation, and I wonder how far we could take it if we decided to focus on a single set between us for months.”
While speaking with ESI, MenaRD said it was the “biggest privilege” in the Street Fighter community to have Daigo accept his proposal. It’s not something to be taken lightly. Not by MenaRD. Not by anybody. He only asked because he knew he was at a point in his career where he could give Daigo a good challenge.
Once the exhibition match was accepted and the date was set in stone, MenaRD started preparing. He totally focused on the Daigo match for an entire month, a team from Japan and one from his home, the Dominican Republic, by his side.
“It’s one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done,” he said. “At the end of the day, it was really important because I wanted to be at a level that would challenge him and be worth his time. He was also preparing. It made me really happy that it was worth it.”
In the end, MenaRD won 6-10. But it wasn’t about winning for MenaRD. It was about the match itself. He wanted it to be entertaining for Daigo. He wanted the two of them to have a great, worthwhile match.
It was a proud moment, but unfortunately, it was shrouded in controversy at the time . The Japanese FGC felt the Evo broadcast didn’t take the “Beast Path” seriously. This was more important than winning a tournament or gaining a title. For many, the loser was considered “dead.” Despite this, the stream had forced hype moments, taking away from the intensity and authenticity of the moment.
Someone on X wrote: “I’ll never forget how you used the Beast Path as a tool for making money and then discarded it.”
Despite the controversy, MenaRD remained positive about the experience.