Lupe Fiasco versus Daigo Umehara

**Lupe Fiasco versus Daigo Umehara** was a *Street Fighter V* exhibition match between Lupe Fiasco and Daigo "The Beast" Umehara. The event was held at Folsom Street Foundry on February 15, 2016, as part of the launch party for Capcom's latest release. The game ended in three-two, with Fiasco declared as the winner. Fans speculated that the fight was a publicity stunt, due to the high climatic end and Umehara's play seeming to be off.

## Background

Fiasco has been a long-time fan of the *Street Fighter* franchise. On Twitter, when asked if he ever watched Evo (the world's biggest fighting game tournament), he responded, "Only to study Daigo..." This led to Mark Julio tweeting, "I'm Mark with Mad Catz. How about a session to go ham on SFV with our man Daigo? I'll bring the sticks. Let me know." Fiasco responded, "!!!! It would be an honor to lose to Daigo-San..."

The game was held on the day before the official release of *Street Fighter V*, where Fiasco (Ken) and Umehara (Ryu) played a total of five matches. It was live-streamed over Twitch and began at 10:45 ET. In the final fight, Fiasco won, leading to a surprising victory. He wrote on Twitter, "Thank you for the dream come true! One for the history books! #HaLuKen"

In the aftermath, when asked by *Kotaku* if the match was staged, Alex Verrey at MadCatz replied, "No sir, it was not! Daigo would never allow such a thing." Daigo added in a statement, "Given that Lupe is such a wildly talented artist, it shouldn't be surprising that he came to play against me last night. I would like to congratulate him on his victory last night, but let's say that you can eagerly await a rematch. The crowd warmly welcomed us and was so excited. I thought it was a great run. Lupe gifted me his own "Metal Gear" jacket (which I wore at the autograph session latter). I believe it was because he thought we had good matches too!" Fiasco also addressed the rumors, "Just to be clear. I actually take opportunities like this seriously. I trained very hard for the Daigo match just for peeps to call it fixed."

## Reception

*Inverse* wrote how, regardless of whether the game was staged or not, Fiasco's win "is a victory for the fighting game scene," with increased exposure for the eSports community. *Kotaku*'s Brian Ashcraft reasoned, "There could be other factors the contributed to this outcome. Maybe Daigo was jet-lagged, maybe he's still not that familiar with *Street Fighter V*, or maybe he was being polite. Or maybe, you know, Lupe is good," while *Hypebeast* said, "it's hard to ignore a match like this when Lupe, a known gamer, goes up against a player who once parried an entire Chun-Li Super Art in *Street Fighter III: Third Strike* during EVO 2004—a feat that will forever be engrained into the history of competitive gaming."

Heidi Kemps of *Vice* observed, "Daigo's play, however, seemed... somewhat unpolished, to say the least." She continued, "In the end, Lupe won narrowly in the very last round of the set, and practically everyone—the crowd at the foundry, the people watching on Twitch, even Lupe himself—went nuts. Lupe even stormed into the commentators' booth and gave announcer Mike Ross a giant hug. So yes, Lupe beat Daigo, one of the best *Street Fighter* players ever, technically. Whether or not Lupe won legitimately, however, is not what's important here..." She concluded, "What's really key here, though, is the level of sheer admiration Lupe had for Daigo. Lupe was clearly filled with respect and emotion for Daigo, and it felt like just the act of playing someone he admired made him absolutely elated. After the match, he gave Daigo his jacket, which seemed expensive."

## Gallery

Street Fighter V - Lupe Fiasco versus Daigo Umehara**@MadCatz**: "Congrats to @LupeFiasco ! Great match vs @daigothebeast ! #LupeVSDaigo"
* February 15, 2016
* Twitter
**@daigothebeast**: "#LupeVSDaigo"
* February 15, 2016
* Twitter
**@daigothebeast**: "@LupeFiasco Good @StreetFighter ! Tru, u tuning in to my show?http://bit.ly/1SYtFHC Rematch? U can study my book ;)"
* February 20, 2016
* Twitter

## References

1. ↑ "Street Fighter V Launch Event: Lupe Fiasco VS Daigo Umehara". *Capco*. February 12, 2016.
2. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". *Twitter*. January 26, 2016.
3. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". *Twitter*. January 27, 2016.
4. ↑ Byford, Sam (February 15, 2016). "Watch Lupe Fiasco defeat Street Fighter legend Daigo Umehara". *The Verge*.
5. ↑ Clark, Trent (February 17, 2016). "Lupe Fiasco Beats Gaming Legend Daigo Umehara in "Street Fighter V"". *HipHopDX*.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ashcraft, Brian (February 16, 2016). "The Theory That the Lupe vs. Daigo Fight Was Staged [Update]". *Kotaku*.
7. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". *Twitter*. June 30, 2016.
8. ↑ Francisco, Eric (February 16, 2016). "Why Lupe Fiasco's 'Street Fighter' Win Is a Victory for the Fighting Game Scene". *Inverse*.
9. ↑ Eng, Eddie (February 16, 2016). "Lupe Fiasco Somehow Defeated Legendary Gamer Daigo Umehara in 'Street Fighter V'". *Hypebeast*.
10. ↑ Kemps, Heidi (February 16, 2016). "Rapper Lupe Fiasco Beat One of the World's Best 'Street Fighter' Players". *Vice*.