Daigo Umehara

Daigo
Daigo Umehara in 2018
Current team
TeamTeam Beast
GameStreet Fighter 6
Personal information
NameDaigo Umehara
Nickname(s)The Beast
Born (1981-05-19) 19 May 1981
Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Career information
Games
Playing career1997–present
Career highlights and awards

Daigo Umehara (Japanese: 梅原 大吾, Hepburn: Umehara Daigo, born 19 May 1981) is a Japanese esports player and author who competes competitively at fighting video games. He specializes in 2D arcade fighting games, mainly those released by Capcom. Known as "Daigo" or "The Beast" in the West and "Umehara" (ウメハラ, written in katakana instead of kanji) or "Ume" in Japan, Daigo is one of the world's most famous Street Fighter players and is often considered its greatest. His longevity is seen as an incredibly rare thing in the world of competitive video games. He currently holds a world record of "the most successful player in major tournaments of Street Fighter" in the Guinness World Records and is a six time Evo Championship Series winner.

Before properly being called a pro gamer from signing a sponsorship deal with Mad Catz, Japanese media usually referred to Daigo as "the god of 2D fighting games" (2D格闘ゲームの神, 2D Kakutō Gēmu no Kami).