Punk sweeps Street Fighter 6 and Doramigi slams competition in Smash Ultimate at LVL UP EXPO 2026: FGC’s explosive weekend leading to Evo Japan 2026

The FGC was handled to a wild weekend courtesy of LVL UP EXPO 2026, which noticed worldwide gamers corresponding to Goichi “GO1” Kishida, Shoji “Fenritti” Sho, and Doramigi fly in to show themselves at Los Angeles.

From Victor “Punk” Woodley’s Road Fighter 6 run to Christopher “NYChrisG” Gonzalez showing within the Prime 8 of just about all of the tournaments he entered, right here’s the rundown of probably the most attention-grabbing tales final weekend.

Punk is arguably probably the greatest Road Fighter gamers to have ever come out of the US of America. He received Evo Vegas 2024, lots of Capcom Professional Tour premier occasions, and an entire lot of tournaments.

Actually the one factor lacking in his resume is successful the Capcom Cup.

Whereas that title nonetheless eludes him, he confirmed up at LVL UP EXPO 2026 and swept his opponents in Road Fighter 6. Punk truly entered the Prime 8 of the bracket from the loser’s facet of issues after Michael “Riddles” Kim robbed him of his possibilities to win the event flawlessly. He crawled from the loser’s facet, received the runback in opposition to Riddles 3-0, after which proceeded to win nailbiter video games in opposition to NYChrisG for the back-to-back LVL UP EXPO title.

As knowledgeable 0-2’er, successful a event from the loser’s facet is far more spectacular than successful it from the winner’s facet. I don’t have far more latest information, however in line with this random Reddit man from 11 years in the past, Smash tournaments are overwhelmingly received from the winner’s facet. Gamers from the loser’s facet of the bracket have lower than 20% probability of successful the entire thing. I wager my cash that the statistic is fairly comparable throughout preventing video games.

Proper after his win, Punk went straight to catch a flight to Japan, the place he’s now staying and speaking about how heated bogs “hit completely different” in Japan.

By no means change, Punk.

Over to the Tremendous Smash Bros. Final facet of issues, Doramigi additionally received his back-to-back, beating his associates and rivals to solidify himself as the perfect Smash Final participant on the planet.

And to let you know the reality, this child is getting sort of scary.

His Liquipedia web page lists all his placements in tournaments he’s entered, and it reveals that the final time he wasn’t within the Prime 8 was in 2024. That’s two years of consistency! It’s paying homage to Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez Perez’s dominance in early Final from 2020 up till Smash Final Summit 5 in 2023, the place he acquired despatched house early.

Whereas there’s an argument available that Doramigi isn’t coming into as many tournaments as MkLeo again within the day, lower the child some slack; he nonetheless has college to attend.

Primarily based on his tweet above, Doramigi’s subsequent event seems to be Kagaribi, which takes place the day after Evo Japan 2026. It’s a Premier event with lots of worldwide expertise flying in, together with MkLeo and even Riddles. I imply, you’re already there for Evo Japan, may as effectively keep for a number of extra days to play a Smash event!

There are only a few individuals within the FGC who’ve risen to NYChrisG’s heights. He received the Capcom Cup again when it wasn’t a $1 million event with atrocious prize distribution, and he has a few Evo titles underneath his belt.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t cease him from coming into enormous tournaments and making a financial institution out of it.

Simply to place issues into context, Punk received $4,750 after inserting first in Road Fighter 6 and fourth in Deadly Fury: Metropolis of the Wolves. NYChrisG, however, positioned second in Road Fighter 6, second in Road Fighter 4, third in 2XKO, fourth in Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, fourth in Final Marvel vs Capcom 3, and ninth in Deadly Fury: Metropolis of the Wolves for a complete successful of $3,500.

That’s not too dangerous for a preventing sport haul, contemplating that our prize swimming pools are low in comparison with different esports. Not simply that, it’s much more than what different gamers acquired for putting first of their respective video games! Responsible Gear -STRIVE-, for instance, solely awarded $700 to its first-place competitor.

This isn’t a diss to FGC prize swimming pools (but additionally kinda, please fund us extra), however it’s extra of a testomony to how NYChrisG can juggle a number of preventing video games. Most gamers these days play solely sure preventing video games and by no means actually contact others, which often ends in meaningless discourse. For my part, taking part in a wide range of preventing video games (whereas complicated as a consequence of muscle reminiscence and different variables) will enhance your fundamentals and understanding of preventing video games as an entire.

However that’s simply me.

Persevering with his methods, NYChrisG units his sights on Evo Japan, coming into The King of Fighters XV, Deadly Fury: Metropolis of the Wolves, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, and the 2XKO brackets. When you’re questioning why there’s no Road Fighter 6 there, apparently, the bracket had a participant restrict, and he couldn’t register on time.

After failing to get to the Prime 8 on the Tekken World Tour Finals 2025, Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique appears to have discovered his footsies (get it?) simply in time for his first-to-seven set in opposition to Yuta “Chikurin” Tackle April twenty ninth, 2026.

Arslan Ash hasn’t dropped a sport in LVL UP EXPO 2026, washing all his opponents apart and taking house his back-to-back title.

The seven-time Evo champion hasn’t received a event since Evo France 2025, and this win ought to be a confidence enhance not only for the first-to-seven set, but additionally for Evo Japan, which occurs proper after.

Arslan Ash is now again in Japan, the place he has been staying since February of this yr. This provides him at some point to arrange for his set in opposition to Chikurin. For my part, Arslan Ash has the sting on this bout, as he has a constructive win charge in opposition to Chikurin in Tekken 7 tournaments. Nevertheless, in Tekken 8, Chikurin is a distinct beast, and the 2 have traded units, leading to a 1-1 document.

Whereas the upcoming match goes to be an exhibition of excellent ass Tekken, I feel that it ought to’ve been Arslan Ash vs Knee, after which make it a first-to-ten. Perhaps even make it the primary occasion.

Riddles’ transition to Road Fighter 6 has been one of many smoothest ones I’ve seen thus far, and it’s not even shut.

It’s uncommon for a Tremendous Smash Bros. participant to seek out success in one other a part of the FGC, and the one different individual I can consider is William “Leffen” Hjelte, who transitioned from Melee to Responsible Gear -STRIVE-.

The Terry Bogard major had a easy bracket up till the winner’s finals of Prime 8, the place he fought NYChrisG and misplaced 3-1. It didn’t finish there, as a rampaging Punk blasted him out of the event in third place.

Nevertheless, that is nonetheless a really respectable inserting for Riddles, contemplating that he despatched Punk to the loser’s bracket. On high of that, he additionally beat GO1, probably the greatest Road Fighter 6 gamers on the planet.

This child’s evolution is really one thing to behold. He introduced his intent to give attention to Road Fighter 6 a yr in the past and has been doing splendidly ever since. He has certified for the Esports World Cup as a free agent and has completed second on the Road Fighter League Professional-US 2025 alongside Punk, Alan “Nephew” Solar, and Shawn “Psycho” Williams.

Similar to the opposite rivals right here, Riddles has his eyes on that Evo Japan 2026 title and has a good probability at it.