“I already have the attention of so many people. Now I just have to give them a good show.”
The Street Fighter 6 matches at Esports World Cup 2025 (EWC 2025) are well underway, and players are currently duking it out in the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) for the main event's final spots. Having won Evo Japan 2025, Saul "MenaRD" Mena already qualified for next weekend's main event. The player also recently became the Evo Las Vegas 2025 champion. Ahead of next weekend, esports.gg sat down with MenaRD for an interview about Street Fighter 6 at EWC 2025, his esports journey, and more!
MenaRD enters Street Fighter 6 at EWC 2025
In his interview with esports.gg, MenaRD shared that he's quite excited for EWC 2025 because it's a chance to improve on his performance last year with Team Falcons. This year, with Weibo Gaming, he wants to win the Street Fighter 6 title.
"I want to give them this title," he said. "I'm doing pretty good this season, and it feels great, but I think I haven't finished. That's how I feel. I feel like there's many things that I have to do this year, too, and EWC is the first step."
In terms of how he's preparing for the EWC tournament, he revealed that he's working with people back home to study the other qualified players. This means talking strategies and looking closely into character matchups plus potential challenges with Sagat. For context, Sagat recently arrived in Street Fighter 6.
MenaRD on being a three-time Evo champion
As noted, MenaRD won both Evo Japan and Evo Las Vegas this year. When we asked him about what these Evo victories mean to him, he said that they're not only wins for the Dominican fighting game community (FGC), but also wins for the folks around him and Red Bull eSports, which is an organization that sponsors him.
"They mean a lot because a lot of the effort that is being put into me being a better player -- it's also from the people around me, my team, and my training partners," MenaRD said. "So seeing that all the work that we put in can produce good results is just something that makes me feel really good, makes me feel proud of our teamwork."
At Evo Las Vegas 2025, MenaRD won against Kakeru, a strong player in his own right, twice. The matches happened in the upper-bracket final and grand final. To MenaRD, winning so convincingly against Kakeru was incredible, however, it really came down to having the right information. The outcome wasn't about a huge skill gap, either.
"I was able to just overwhelm him and he wasn't able to adapt," he said. "So I don't think that the skill difference is that much. It's just sometimes things like that happen where it's just a mismatch in regards to strategies."
He also shared that staying locked in for events like Evo or the EWC requires taking care of himself during the long matches and crowded environments. For example, staying hydrated and managing fatigue are keys to performing well. It all involves making his practice sessions as effective as possible as well.
That is, MenaRD studies matches, sees what other players are doing, and tracks everything in both his notebook and cellphone. To him, reaching a finals is always a privilege, so he hopes to maintain that mindset while giving the audience a good show.
"I already have the attention of so many people. Now I just have to give them a good show."
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MenaRD's esports journey
In a past interview with esports.gg, MenaRD said that his esports journey began on a small PC setup back home. He never thought that he or his friends would get the opportunity to compete at events like Evo because of the costs. When we asked for his thoughts about Evo Las Vegas 2025, MenaRD spoke at length about how his family’s support motivates him to perform at his best. He just wants to make them proud.
"It was basically like I dreamed about this moment so much," he said. "And I've been looking at the crowd from my computer lenses. And then it feels like my computer grabbed me and put me inside that fantasy. You know, like what I was watching since I was a little kid -- I was just standing in that moment a few days ago. So I was like, 'Wow, I can't even process what I'm feeling right now' because I'm so overwhelmed by positive feelings that I can't believe it. And to this day, I look at the videos, I see the pictures, and I can't believe that just happened."
He continued, "It's a crazy thing to have my family's support -- watching tournaments and do so many things because I think it's cute. They're getting into this thing and watching videos just because I'm playing it. I think it's such an adorable thing that they're doing that, and they're even traveling and putting in the effort with their time just to go and support me."
As for parting words, he told esports.gg that wants to share the process behind his performance.
"I want to share with people the process behind performing, behind everything that I'm doing," he said. "Because I'm not the kind to sit down and stream and speak to the crowd. But I also want to give them some access to how competing is for me and how I prepare. So I'm going to start uploading all of the content that I've been recording -- like the backstage over Evo and how was that entire weekend."
MenaRD's videos can be found on his YouTube channel.
That's all for now. Street Fighter 6's finals at EWC 2025 kicks off on Aug. 23. Stick around on esports.gg for more interviews, news, and updates!
