Avenue Fighter 6 professional MenaRD has been acknowledged by his house nation of the Dominican Republic, which introduced him with an award to honor his combating sport achievements.
Saul Leonardo ‘MenaRD’ Mena II is knowledgeable combating sport participant from the Dominican Republic. Whereas he’s been competing for the reason that days of Avenue Fighter IV, he first rose to fame after Avenue Fighter V’s launch in 2016.
Again then, the Dominican Republic wasn’t a area identified for combating sport prowess — however he put his nation on the map by successful Capcom Cup in 2017 and went on to turn out to be one of many best gamers in SFV’s lifetime.
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The truth is, Mena is the primary and solely two-time Capcom Cup champion, having additionally taken the event for SFV in 2023. On high of this, he’s additionally a three-time Evo champion, having gained Evo Japan in 2024 and 2025, in addition to successful Evo Las Vegas in 2025.
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Mena’s achievements have cemented him as one of many best Avenue Fighter gamers of all time, bringing him generational wealth that he used to influence his native combating sport scene. As an example, the ‘dojo’ the place gamers would apply Avenue Fighter was a small, cramped venue that was extremely secretive and suffered from frequent energy outages.
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After successful a staggering $250K from Capcom Cup 2017, he created a brand new place for them to play, sponsored different competitor’s journeys to tournaments across the globe, and even began his personal esports workforce, the Santo Domingo Tigers.
Mena is now a family title within the Dominican Republic, and to thank him for his optimistic influence, the nation introduced him with the Delight of Dominican Tradition award on August 28, 2025 — the identical day as his twenty sixth birthday.
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In an interview on the pink carpet, Mena spoke about what it was like being acknowledged for such an achievement and what the award meant to him.
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“In a loopy approach, beginning this gaming journey and experiencing what I’m experiencing proper now, having a lot success — that’s what it’s, that’s what one works for, and what the group would love me to do,” he mentioned.
MenaRD has helped each his household and his group come a great distance since rising to fame, each of which he credit for serving to him rise to the highest.
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“I really feel that I’m who I’m due to my group,” he informed me in an interview again in 2018. “Since they helped me have a greater life, I’ll do my finest to construct a greater group so the longer term technology can have it simpler within the path of being a professional gamer. It’s my second household. [They have] at all times been tremendous supportive after I symbolize, and tremendous aggressive when enjoying domestically. I really like my group.”
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