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The Dominican Republic’s Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II is now known as one of the most fearsome Street Fighter players anyone could go up against. MenaRD is now known as a champion after coming out on top at the Red Bull Kumite and Street Fighter League, winning EVO three times – including the most recent EVO 2025 in Las Vegas – and being the only player to ever win the Street Fighter publisher’s Capcom Cup twice. MenaRD is on top of the world right now, but it wasn’t always that way.

MenaRD’s early competitive life took place in DR’s capital, Santo Domingo. At just 15-years-old MenaRD managed to secure a joint-5th place finish at Fighting Fest 2015, and only came second because of Punk – another of Street Fighter’s strongest players – at Northeast Championship 17 in Pennsylvania. Finally, he secured a win at a Capcom Pro Tour event, Game Over Tournament 2017, and the momentum from that win carried him all the way to winning Capcom Cup 2017 in an electrifying final. It was a monumental upset at the time, but MenaRD has just won his third EVO championship, and victory is coming naturally.

The 25-year-old competitor is in his prime now, but like hundreds of other players in the Dominican Republic, there was never a guarantee that he could travel to achieve this kind of success. That’s why he’s giving back to his community, and it’s made him one of the most likable players, not just the most feared.

“I started by just trying to provide [DR players] with opportunities and resources,” MenaRD shared after his EVO victory. “A lot of the guys didn’t have a PlayStation, or a TV, or resources to travel available. So that was the first thing I did. I also renovated what we call The Dojo, which is basically the place we gather to play. It was in pretty bad condition, so I had to get it ready, but it has been standing for years now.”

Now that MenaRD’s at the top of his game, he wants to bring his local scene to the top with him. “Now I just want to create opportunities for them to compete, and to experience competition, even if they can’t [travel], I want them to have a replica of what competition feels like, so they can be ready,” he explained. “We’re achieving that right now, we have a premiere in the Dominican Republic, and we’re doing tournaments and circuits for the community there. I feel like it’s working pretty well.”

The skill of the home scene can only feed into MenaRD’s own talents, and he proved that with his convincing Grand Finals victory over Capcom Cup’s latest champion, Kakeru. MenaRD stayed on the winner’s side the entire tournament, not dropping a set to anyone, and the outcome became clear. Fighting game champions often talk about their training regimen and how they study the playstyle and bad habits of their opponents, but when it comes to EVO 2025, MenaRD wasn’t really concerned with all of that.

“Usually there’s that process of checking out what player I’m going to fight and getting ready, studying a lot about how they play and what strategies they have. But this time, because it’s EVO – it’s such a big tournament – you basically have to beat everyone in one day, and it doesn’t matter how much you prepare for one player if you cannot beat all of the others,” MenaRD explained, upending most competitor’s philosophies. “So this time I didn’t actually look at the bracket. I was just focused on my own performance and my own body. How tired I was, how fatigued my eyes were, if my hands hurt. I was very focused on that and just maintaining the quality of gameplay throughout the tournament.”

EVO in Las Vegas is considered to be the most important fighting game event of every year, and players from around the world travel long distances to fight against competitors from across the globe. It’s an incredible experience for the players, fans, and wider community watching from home, but it can also lead to players being jetlagged, disorientated, or overwhelmed, and that mental deficit manifests in how people play. MenaRD’s approach to focusing on one’s self is, quite literally, refreshing.

“I was able to play every single set like it was the first set of the day, with that freshness in mind,” he continued. “That’s what you want to achieve, [you don’t want] too many options and information in your mind coming from the previous set, then when you fight the next player you’re already playing a certain way. That’s what I wanted to avoid, and I was able to do it successfully.”

MenaRD has obviously supported his local fighting game scene back home, but he wants more players around the world to get into fighting games. When asked what he wants to see in Street Fighter next, he’s eager to see more opportunities for casual players. “Overall, in the competitive scene, I want to see more opportunities for casuals to enjoy and see what the game is all about.

“It’s pretty hardcore right now, and when you go to Japan you see a lot of the casual fanbase enjoying tournaments,” he explained. “I wonder how we can replicate what they’re doing over there, and how we can bring it over here and give it to the crowd.”

MenaRD might be dominant in Street Fighter 6 right now, but he hasn’t achieved everything he wants, and he can’t play another game until he does. “I’m focused on Street Fighter, it’s the biggest competition, it’s so tough, and I have to give my 100%,” he stressed. “Until I have completed the goals I have with the game, I don’t think I’m going to be able to play multiple games. Street Fighter is that hard, but thanks to God I’m only 25-years-old, and I think I can complete everything that I want before I’m 30. If that happens, if I’m able to keep that performance, then maybe I’ll try other games.”