Interview: MenaRD will beat Arslan and SonicFox once he’s conquered Street Fighter

MenaRD is fresh off of his EVO 2025 Grand Finals victory over Kakeru, and he’s already looking toward the future. The 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic is already considered to be one of the strongest and scariest Street Fighter players on the planet, but he sees a future where he takes out Arslan Ash in Tekken and SonicFox in Mortal Kombat. That’s all set to come if he can achieve all of his Street Fighter ambitions in the next five years.

We talk about EVO 2025, tournament prep, making content, One Piece, and much more in this exclusive interview with EVO 2025’s Street Fighter 6 champion. More quotes can be found in an edited interview.

DBLTAP: Do you feel being in the fighting game community and traveling the world has opened more opportunities for you, even outside the fighting game space?

MenaRD: Just traveling and getting to know people is already such a big deal, I've met so many people, I've done so many things that there's naturally a lot of opportunities over there, but especially because it's the fighting game community and there's a lot of people that are passionate about this. There's a lot of companies that are also watching the event and a lot of brands that want to get involved with the players. I've met so many people and had so many opportunities that they're hard to count. 

DT: How do you keep focused and maintain a strong mindset, even when you’ve gone 1-1 with someone and there’s one game left? You stayed on winner’s side at EVO 2025 and won Grand Finals conclusively. How do you keep that mindset, even if you’ve had a one game setback?

MenaRD: I think the more I play somebody, it doesn't matter if I'm at a disadvantage or if the guy has a big lead. The more I play them, the more I understand what they want to do, because the game is like a conversation, and you have to tell me what your winning conditions are. If it’s 1-1, what did they do, what did they want me to do? What mistakes were they waiting for me to make? So the more I play somebody, the more I understand them, and usually I only get two games, but if you are a good player and you're able to win one, that means we get an extra game and we play three, and it's gonna give me even more information. I just try to adjust my game plan to what they’re not expecting. Overall, it's all about decision making and being able to trick them. 

DT: You say you want to trick people, you want to do things that are unexpected. Do you feel like Blanka is key to that?

MenaRD: Yeah, I think it doesn't matter who you play, you can do it, but especially when you play a character like Blanka who’s designed to be tricky and has so many options. You can abuse the mental stack more and condition people faster.

DT: How are you feeling about the latest One Piece arc?

MenaRD: [Laughing] I’m enjoying it a lot, but that was out of left field, I didn’t expect that.

DT: Sorry, I had to.

MenaRD: No, it’s great, you know. Egghead has been amazing. It’s just a shame that I have to wait a week. When I got used to watching this in the pandemic, it was infinite, it was endless stories, and now I just have to wait every week to catch up with the anime. But Egghead has been beautiful and that story about Kuma and his daughter is just something else.

DT: It gets even better. I won’t spoil a single thing, but it gets even better. Obviously you’re dominant in Street Fighter 6 right now, but are there any other fighting games that you’ve been playing about with, or you’re interested in entering tournaments with?

MenaRD: I'm interested in playing every single fighting game, especially because I want to beat the top player of every game. I would like to go to Tekken and beat Arslan [Ash], or go [play NetherRealm Studios games] and beat SonicFox, but it's just so hard. I'm focused on Street Fighter. It's the biggest competition. 

DT: In the immediate future, are there any players you are somewhat nervous about facing, or are you just intent on going in with a fresh mindset and taking them all down?

MenaRD: I wouldn't say I'm nervous about any single player. I think everybody's human and I try to understand everybody, but I will say, given the track record, Fuudo is somebody that I have to focus on, and I wonder how our next match will go. And then this guy Leshar, who's having an amazing season also, these two guys. I'm very focused on them and I'm gonna come with, as you said, a fresh mindset, a fresh strategy, and I’m probably gonna have to bring something new to the table to be able to dominate them. 

DT: Are there any messages you want to send out to the world?

MenaRD: For my fans, I’m trying to bring the content and trying to show people what I do backstage, how I prepare, so they can visually enjoy it, and it's gonna come into my YouTube channel. I haven't been much of a content creator, but I'm starting this year, and I want people to enjoy what the process is in a tournament and how I prepare. So be on the lookout for that.