Evo Japan 2025 - Street Fighter 6 Top 8 Recap

MenaRD made history as he became the first player to win Evo Japan back-to-back. He was the winner in 2024 when he defeated Kakeru 3-0 in Grand Finals to take home his first ever Evo trophy. He repeated the feat this time defeating Ryukichi in Grand Finals to take the trophy again. 

For Japan, this means they haven't won Evo Japan in Street Fighter since 2020 when Nauman made a shocking run to win in the finals against Mago. 

This year's tournament featured almost 7000 entrants, the highest tournament number since Evo 2023 Street Fighter 6 which surpassed 7000. But, at the head of that, stands Mena, and it now makes him the first two-time Capcom Cup winner, and two-time Evo Japan winner. 

Mena had been on a tear all weekend and getting to top 8, his first battle was against the ever enthusiastic Akira, whose rushdown Cammy is a pain to deal with. Mena went with Blanka and was able to get the win. 

Next was Ryukichi who has some history with Mena seeing as they also faced off last year at Evo Japan at the Winners Semi-Final stage where Ryukichi almost pulled off a coup before Mena rallied and defeated him. In a later interview, Mena mentioned that he won that match because he had more mental fortitude and referred to a clip where he seemed to steal a glance at Ryukichi and saw he was rattled despite pulling off a comeback from two games down. 

This time, it was close again, but Mena was once again a 3-2 winner over Ryukichi. He initially picked Zangief to throw the young player off, but Ryukichi adapted and started getting the better of Mena who then switched to Blanka to finish off the win. 

He would face Ryukichi again in Grand Finals, but this time there were no mind games and he went from Blanka immediately and got the win, 3-1 to claim his second Evo Japan championship. 

He had some words for his Japanese audience, taking to social media to talk about how he believes he won because he had been in Japan quite a bit over the last year and claiming that he would not be around for quite a bit after this.

He said, "It will be a long time before I return to Japan, so I want to leave this message behind. I was able to win because I have been practicing here more than anywhere else for the past year. I am truly grateful to all the players who play with me. If there is anything I can do to help the players or the community, please don't hesitate to let me know.

"Best of luck to all athletes and organizers in the next SFL and WW events."

MenaRD got all the plaudits, but there was plenty of action elsewhere as the top 8 also featured Momochi who lost to Ryukichi while in the losers side, Kobayan was making everyone nervous as he kept getting win after win. He was making some history of his own as he was the first dedicated Zangief main to make Evo Japan top 8 since 2020 when Itabashi Zangief did it in Street Fighter V. 

Kobayan recently joined Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto who he'll be competing with in Street Fighter League Japan, but his main breakthrough came when he won Topanga Championship 5 in 2024 where he took it over Kakeru in the Grand Finals and was a terror. He started the day in losers bracket and first had to deal with Higuchi's Guile, one of the best in the world. It was a close set, but he showed his prowess against a character Zangief has always traditionally struggled with. 

He then needed to overcome strong players like Akira and Momochi before finally meeting his end at the hands of Ryukichi and bowing out in 3rd place. 

With Evo Japan over, the two spots for Esports World Cup are now taken by MenaRD and Ryukichi, seeing they came first and second, respectively. 

MenaRD in his winner's speech, stated that the season had been difficult, especially after the Luke nerf, which left him scrambling for characters. He cycled between Blanka, Zangief, and most recently, Bison, which he has used to great effect. 

He did make a pretty memorable quote at the end, saying that 'I think we all need a little bit of delusion in this impossible life.'

The season has only begun, and while MenaRD has already secured qualification for Capcom Cup 12 with this win, he will have many other tournaments to contend for, including Combo Breaker, EWC, Evo, and so on.