Daigo

 Daigo "Daigo" Umehara sometimes also known as "The Beast" is a professional Street Fighter player from Japan. He is one of the "five gods" of fighting games, alongside Tokido, sako, Haitani and Nuki.

Daigo took an interest in fighting games early on. When he was just 10 years old he saw Street Fighter 2 arcade cabinet at a video rental store and it caught his eye. After that, he started going to arcades to play fighting games. Daigo didn't have a natural talent for fighting games but what he had is passion. He was convinced that he can win if he converts that passion into practicing and learning. This conviction would bear fruit as later on Daigo established a legendary record of having 286 win streak in Darkstalkers, only stopping because game center was closing.

The late 90s were filled with competition for Daigo, ramping up from regional to international wins when he traveled to the USA in 1998 for Street Fighter Alpha 3 tournament, where he defeated American champion, Alex Valle and won his first international championship.

While Umehara always played a variety of games, Street Fighter was always his key discipline. This culminated in EVO 2004 where he accomplished what most would consider almost impossible. In a Daigo vs Justin Wong fight, he made an incredible comeback by parrying Chun-Li's 16 hit super, which was the only option he had, because blocking would lead to chip out death. This event is now known as EVO moment 37. The same year, Daigo was unsure if he should continue playing fighting games and almost withdrawn from the community to pursue a career in elder care instead. 

Street Fighter IV release is what started drawing Daigo back into the competition and before long, he once against entered competitions, even attending and winning EVO 2009 which led to him finally becoming a sponsored player under MAD CATZ. The following year he won again at EVO 2010.

While his performance in Street Fighter V hasn't been as dominant, he remains a very intimidating opponent for other players with many top 4 and top 8 placements and incredible plays. Despite Daigo's age, which is above the average of other SF pros, he still learns and improves.

In 2016 Daigo Umehara published a book called "The Will to Keep Winning" that served as a peek inside the mind of a champion. It recounts both his personal life and professional career and allows people to understand his mentality that led to becoming one of the greatest fighting game players of all time. 

Daigo can be often found streaming on Twitch, he also has Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts.