The preventing recreation neighborhood is hailing Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II as one of many best Road Fighter gamers in historical past after profitable Evo 2025, the biggest preventing recreation event on the earth.
This victory alone isn’t inspiring followers to place him on their ‘Mt. Rushmore’ of preventing recreation GOATs, although; Mena can be the one Road Fighter professional to have received two Capcom Cup championships, an insane feat that hadn’t been completed within the decade because it started in 2013.
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On high of that, he received Evo Japan twice in back-to-back victories in 2024 – 2025 in opposition to Japanese professionals Ryukichi and Kakeru, the latter of whom can be a former Capcom Cup champion. The 2 met as soon as once more on the principle stage at Evo Las Vegas 2025, one yr after Mena’s victory on Kakeru’s dwelling turf — and it was a massacre.
However earlier than these gamers digitally duked it out on Sunday night time, we obtained the possibility to sit down down with Mena and choose his mind about his mindset going into the event, having simply received Evo Japan a number of months prior.
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MenaRD is being thought-about one of many best preventing recreation gamers on the earth following his Evo 2025 victory in opposition to Kakeru.
To MenaRD, mindset is extra vital than any opponent
After watching his electrifying efficiency on Sunday night time, you wouldn’t have believed this was the identical participant. Mena was calm, considerate, and composed, telling us that he was merely ‘taking issues as they arrive’ moderately than getting too emotionally invested in his outcomes.
“ My mindset is simply preserving the entire outdoors issues — , my physique, the entire issues that might come up, my household — all the pieces is about [and taken care of],” he informed us.
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“I’ve all the pieces set so I can have peace of thoughts, and I can give attention to the event, and check out to bear in mind something that may take away my focus. That method, I can play for hours on Saturday and attempt to have that high quality gameplay that I would like.
“I believe it’s extra vital than attempting to fret about, ‘Oh, this particular participant, what’s he gonna do?’ It’s important to beat everyone, mainly.”
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BigBird says being ‘zen’ is one of the best ways to strategy Road Fighter 6
Mena wasn’t alone in his pondering. Final yr’s Evo runner-up, BigBird, expressed comparable sentiments about this yr’s event.
“ To be sincere, recently my mindset with getting into tournaments hasn’t actually been, ‘Oh, I gotta observe onerous subsequent event, or I gotta work on this and that. My mindset recently has been going to the event and ensuring I’m ready, clearly, however moving into with the mindset that, ‘Okay, I’m gonna do my greatest. If it really works, okay, I am going on, subsequent. If it doesn’t work, GGs, we go to the subsequent event,” he defined.”
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“I believe what you’re answerable for is mainly ensuring you’re simply ready, however no matter goes on within the event or within the set, I do really feel such as you don’t have one hundred percent management over it. You’ll be able to win, you’ll be able to lose, clearly, however finally it would come right down to a really split-second choice or a fortunate guess, and I don’t assume try to be unhappy about it.”
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Purple Bull Content material Pool: Todd GutierrezEach BigBird and MenaRD shared comparable sentiments relating to their mindsets going into Evo 2025.
The composure behind MenaRD’s electrifying Evo showdown
Mena’s moderately zen disposition appeared to shift as he labored his method by the bracket. He more and more turned extra intense because the weekend wore on, lastly importing a video of himself shadowboxing as a warm-up to the Sunday finals.
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And on Sunday night time, he confronted Kakeru within the Winners’ Last by throwing his backpack to the bottom and staring him down, UFC weigh-in fashion. It was a callback to their previous Grand Finals match at Evo Japan 2024, and a transparent signal that Mena was amped up and devoted to profitable his first Evo Las Vegas victory.
Purple Bull Content material Pool: Todd GutierrezMenaRD and Kakeru carried out a callback to their earlier Grand Finals set from Evo Japan 2024 with a fierce staredown.
After tossing Kakeru into the Losers’ bracket, Mena secured his spot within the Grand Last. Kakeru climbed his method again up, taking out upstart Hong Kong professional Mickey to as soon as once more meet Mena within the final struggle of the night time — and Mena swept.
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It was as if Mena had been a shark that smelled blood within the water. His efficiency was aggressive, surgical, and actual. In a 3-0 sweep, the Dominican professional secured the Evo Vegas 2025 championship… however did his mindset keep the identical?
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We requested him this query on the post-match press convention, the place the beaming champ fortunately admitted that, though he seemed fired-up on the skin, he was calm and composed inside.
“I attempted to take care of that mindset as a lot as I may,” he answered. “In Winners’ Finals, after I stared down Kakeru, that had me fairly fired up. However then, the Grand Finals was simply the technical side of, ‘I’ve three extra matches than you. I’m in a position to take extra dangers. You will have all this stress. It’s very troublesome for him to be in that place and I took benefit of it.
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“Inside, I used to be very quiet, very impartial and simply ready for the win to rejoice.”
This is only one of some issues which have aided Mena in his struggle to the highest. On high of preserving a relaxed mindset, Mena informed us that he needed to put the sport earlier than nearly all the pieces in his life to get the place he’s as we speak.
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“The one factor that I see all of us [pros] have in frequent is that we’re not essentially keen to sacrifice all the pieces, however mainly put the sport over all the pieces. It’s the principle precedence in all of our lives. I see lots of people that they’ve the expertise, they perceive Road Fighter, however it’s not the tip of the world in the event that they lose.
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It’s a very good factor in life, however it’s a nasty factor for competitors, ’trigger it must be that critical. You’re gonna struggle individuals that each one they do is play Road Fighter all day and take into consideration Road Fighter all day, so it’s a must to make the sport your precedence.”
Mena is now aiming to be a champion of all 4 Evo occasions, finally taking Evo France and Evo Singapore. For now, he’s recovering from his huge victory and setting his sights on the subsequent main — however his efficiency at Evo Las Vegas 2025 received’t quickly be forgotten, having securely cemented him within the preventing recreation corridor of legends in gamers’ hearts.
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