“For this beautiful moment to happen, there’s a lot of people that have to work really hard.”
After a weekend of intense battles, exciting matchups, and Street Fighter 6 hype, Saul Leonardo "MenaRD" Mena II became the Red Bull Kumite 2024 champion! Read on for the Red Bull Kumite 2024 results plus what MenaRD had to say about his victory and the fighting game community (FGC).
MenaRD wins Red Bull Kumite 2024
Between March 16 and 17, top Street Fighter 6 players gathered in New York to duke it out for the Red Bull Kumite 2024 trophy. After the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) matches and Play-In stage, a total of 16 players battled for the win. These 16 players featured 14 invited guests, LCQ winner Kevin "Dual Kevin" Barrios, and Play-In winner Alan "Nephew" Sun.
Red Bull Kumite 2024 results
MenaRD came out on top in the first round of the main event, earning a score of 5-4 against Rob "Broski" Livingston. He then advanced by defeating Tsunehiro "gachikun" Kanamori 5-1 in the quarterfinal. When it came down to the semifinal, MenaRD continued to dominate the Street Fighter 6 tournament by sweeping Victor "Punk" Woodley 5-0.
MenaRD then obtained a perfect 5-0 score again by sweeping Du "NuckleDu" Dang in the Bull Kumite 2024 grand final. This earned him the Street Fighter 6 trophy and the lion's share of the $50,000 USD prize pool!
"For this to happen, for this beautiful moment to happen, there's a lot of people that have to work really hard," MenaRD said in the post-match interview with Rob "RobTV" Burney. "You know, the people at Red Bull, you working really heard right now, all of the people that came here, my team, also the people that support me are also working really hard — they have to leave their home to come and support me."
MenaRD then emphasized how everyone plays a part in the FGC. "But what I wanted to say is — everyone has their own little piece that they share to the community," he said. "And this is what I share — good moments, good gameplay. So I have to do my job and I'm glad that I was able to do it and that y'all enjoyed it."
That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more news and updates across the FGC!