Daigo umehara retired

When you think of the term professional fighting game player, it's almost impossible not to immediately think of the man from Japan who captured attention around the world and inspired multiple generations of competitors to take a much closer look at the genre.

To help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the legend first trying to make it as a pro, IGN sat down with Daigo Umehara to ask him about the most memorable moments of his journey thus far from his arcade origins, win streak, Evo Moment #37, Evo championships, setting world records and so much more.

Although he won his first national championship at only 15 years old, Daigo didn't exactly have much support his aspirations to really make something out of his love for fighting games — partially because nobody else had made it into a career at that point outside of development.

"My parents and friends always said it wasn't a good hobby, so it wasn't exactly something to be proud of, let alone a profession," said Umehara via IGN.

"Going pro was beyond my wildest dreams, and even I gave up once on the idea of making something out of it because I didn't think it was feasible. That's how hard it was."

Evo Moment #37 was / is still the catalyst for millions of players to stop and witness what Street Fighter, Third Strike and fighting games in general can be at the highest level.

Daigo doesn't deny the impact Evo has for the community, apparently much more so in the United States than Japan, but to him, it was basically just another tough match against PG|Justin Wong to which he tried to craft some specific tech for.

"It's no overstatement to say this moment from nearly 20 years ago is responsible for where I am now," said Daigo.

"Well, as far as my feelings at the time, this is true in general, but Justin is a very well guarded player I remember generally struggling with trying to figure out how to break through that and win. There was just one thing that really grabbed me, and which I had practiced for, and that was that Chun-Li move."

Street Fighter 4's arrivial and the explosion of new players reignited the competitive fire in The Beast and to push himself as far as he could after winning his first Evo in the game with Umehara claiming he'd spend 15–18 hours a day practicing until the next championship the following year.

There's no talk of retirement here either, and with his continued success across Street Fighter 5, it doesn't sound like Umehara has plans to put away the arcade stick any time soon.

We highly recommend checking out IGN's full video below for a special look back at Daigo's accomplishments thus far from the mouth of The Beast himself.

Image sources: IGN, Cooperstown Entertainment LLC.