What are the best Street Fighter moments of all time?

Street Fighter has a prominent spot in the world of esports and there have been countless impressive pro players picking the game up throughout the years.

In over 30 years of existence, we have witnessed countless legendary moments in the FGC and with this list, we are compiling the greatest and most hyped moments in the game's history. Moments that have left our mouths open in awe.

10. Problem X wins Red Bull Kumite (SFV: Champion Edition; 2021)

Street Fighter V Final | Problem X vs. NL | Red Bull Kumite Las Vegas

Start at: 25:00

In an unforgiving first-to-five final match for the Red Bull Kumite in Las Vegas, Problem X had to defeat NL and he had many characters to choose from.

NL was prominent with Cammy back when she was considered the best character in SFV, you know, before Luke and the final patch, and he was a scary threat to face as a player. Problem X’s main was M. Bison, of course, the character he even won EVO 2018 with, but to face Cammy he pulled off his secondary characters Alex and Edmond Honda.

Switching character every match, he started losing in a match that seemed lost, when NL had the 3-0 lead until Problem X was able to pull off a reverse 5-0 by sticking to his main character, M. Bison, to win the entire tournament.

9. Punk and iDom’s Last Match (SFV: Champion Edition; 2022)

Punk (Karin) vs. iDom (Poison) - FT5 - Capcom Pro Tour 2021 Season Final North America East

Start at: 12:12

Punk and iDom’s rivalry is legendary and they are two of the best Street Fighter players in the world right now, if not the top 2.

Capcom Cup 2021 was supposed to be a huge offline tournament with the best players from each region that qualified during the Capcom Pro Tour facing against each other, but covid restrictions forced the event to be canceled and exhibition matches per region were disputed instead.

The two greatest players in the US played an offline set of first-to-five in what was in the eyes of many fans the ultimate faceoff between the two. This set is one of the finest examples of top-level Street Fighter V play, going all the way to the final game, final round, to settle the rivalry once and for all.

8. Daigo Umehara’s Manual Raging Demon (USFIV; 2015)

USF4 - The Beast is unleashed! Daigo 25 hit combo vs Momochi!

Start at: 0:00

Momochi is one of the greatest Street Fighter players in history and the only man to have won EVO and Capcom Cup.

When he faced off against Daigo during Stunfest 2015, he could not be prepared to what the Beast was about to pulloff.

During an intense, high-level, competitive match-up between two of the greatest to ever do it, Daigo managed to execute one of the greatest combos ever when he executed a 25-hit combo with multiple 1-frame links that fans went on to call a manual Raging Demon. There is truly no one like Daigo.

7. Instant Classic at the Pools (SFV: Champion Edition; 2022)

EVO 2022 - Bandits CABA (Guile) vs IBSG UZURA (Ryu)

Start at: 1:01

Uzura has cemented himself as probably the best Ryu in the world for a while now, going by the name UrienBelievers and appearing in multiple Japanese competitions as well as some taking place on American soil like Red Bull Kumite.

As for Caba, he is a prominent Guile player who has proved his value in multiple tournaments and official leagues and is also known as the loudest member of the BANDITS team, the crew of the Capcom Cup champion MenaRD. The two would face off during the pools for EVO 2022.

Ryu vs Guile is always a fantastic match to watch and it has been the favorite matchup of many fans since 1991 when SFII came out. This entire set is absolutely mental, with intricate and fast-paced fireball wars, outstanding conversions, and ballsy moves, that make this the best Ryu vs Guile match of all time.

6. Here Comes Hakan (SSFIV: Arcade Edition; 2013)

EVO 2K13 SSF4 AE Top 8 Infiltration (Akuma/Hakan) vs PR Balrog (Balrog)

Start at: 6:26

Infiltration was losing 1-2 on the magnificent stage of EVO, the biggest fighting game tournament there is. Using his standard Akuma was not doing it for the South Korean so he had to change his strategy.

After thinking for long minutes, Infiltration ended up picking the low-tier Hakan, who happens to be a counter-pick against Balrog. The confusion did not last long as what followed were tough rounds that had Infiltration fighting against Rog’s life lead and needing to oil up every minute. 

The effort paid off as a couple of genius decisions allowed Infiltration to land his Ultra unexpectedly on multiple occasions, eventually allowing him to move forward in the tournament.

5. Poongko Makes the Crowd Explode (SSFIV: Arcade Edition; 2011)

Daigo VS Poongko Evo 2011

Start at: 0:15

Poongko is one of the funnest players to witness and especially was so during the first years of Street Fighter IV, having been the star of iconic moments such as the Shirts Off Moment at EVO 2015.

In EVO 2011, he played against Daigo Umehara in front of a vivacious crowd, and you could tell something special was about to go down right off the bat, as Poongko ferociously removed his player card and threw it to the ground with force. Then he proceeded to chug an entire drink and threw the empty can to the ground with greater force.

Playing Seth, he mixed Daigo up like a turbo blender and he didn’t allow the Beast to take a single round, making right decision after right decision, and reading Daigo’s Yun like a book. The crowd went wilder and wilder as the match went on, until Poongko decisively won the set, throwing his empty can into the roaring crowd.

4. Infiltration and Gamerbee’s Marathon of Hell (USFIV; 2015)

USFIV: Infiltration vs AVM Gamerbee - EVO 2015 Loser's Final - CPT 2015

Start at: 2:22

During EVO 2015, Infiltration faced off against Gamerbee in Losers Finals in one of the most painful matches to watch in professional Street Fighter history.

Gamerbee picked Elena with her healing Ultra Combo, and proceeded to play a patient and calculating game, opting to zone Infiltration’s Chun-Li out and get his life back with every opportunity.

The big deal here is that Chun-Li was considered a counter-pick against Elena, but Gamerbee’s hit-and-run-and-heal strategy was proving gruesome and wildly effective, having pretty much every round come down to the last seconds. When Infiltration finally switched to Juri, it looked like he had the perfect pick against the healing Elena, but Gamerbee switched to his main Adon to move on to the Grand Finals.

3. Punk’s Heartbreaking Loss and Tokido's Wholesome Win (SFV: Arcade Edition; 2017)

SFV: Echo Fox Tokido vs PG Punk - EVO 2017 Grand Final

Start at: 17:36

2017 was the year of Punk. In that year, the young American dominated the competition and went on to become the best Street Fighter player in the world. At least he thought he was until he met Tokido.

Tokido the Murderface is one of the most recognizable faces in the FGC and one of the all-time greats, known for his sold fundamentals, aggressive playstyle, and overwhelming ruthlessness. Tokido was put up against Punk in the Grand Finals of EVO 2017, and prior to the match, Tokido and Punk had played an exhibition where Tokido completely obliterated the American.

Since Street Fighter’s resurgence when SFIV came out, no American ever won EVO for the game, so Punk was the living American hope. However, Tokido coming from Losers was able to reset the brackets 3-1, and then took it 3-0 over Punk, even slipping a Perfect round in there. Punk’s defeat was heartbreaking, and it overlapped with the heartwarming Tokido win, which was long overdue and left audience members and the commentators in tears. Truly a moment to remember.

2. iDom’s Losers Run (SFV: Champion Edition; 2022)

Street Fighter 5 - EVO 2022 Idom vs Kawano (Grand Finals)

Start at: 1:39

In 2022, iDom won CEO and Combo Breaker, and he was one of the favorites to win EVO as well. However, when Ryan Hart managed to send him to the Losers side early on in the tournament, hope seemed to fade.

By the time the top 8 was settled, the Winners side was composed of 4 Japanese greats and iDom was pit against Mister Crimson, the best Dhalsim in the world and one of the favorites to win the entire thing. iDom beat Crimson and moved on to the next stage, becoming the only remaining American player. Since EVO takes place in the US, the entire crowd was behind him, and on top of that this was the 20th anniversary of EVO, and it was also the first EVO in years after the coronavirus pandemic. Suffice it to say, feelings were running wild in that building.

iDom then was able to beat Daigo Umehara in an instant classic, then he 3-0’d Tokido the Murderface, defeated the Capcom Cup champion Gachikun and made his way to the Grand Finals to face off against the prodigy Kawano, against whom he was able to reset the brackets before losing the tournament when he was 1 or 2 combos away from taking the 1st place himself. Had iDom won that final round, the entire building would have probably collapsed.

1. Evo Moment #37 (SFIII: 3rd Strike; 2004)

Official Evo Moment #37, Daigo vs Justin Evo 2004 in HD

Start at: 0:27

This is the single most legendary moment in all of fighting games history, maybe of the entire history of esports.

Justin Wong had Daigo with such low health that he safely used Chun-Li’s Super Art to kill him. Even if Daigo blocked he would still die due to chip damage, and Chun-Li’s Super is so fast and has so many hits that it is impossible to parry. Or is it?

In a shocking turn of events, Daigo was able to parry all 15 hits from Chun-Li’s Super Art, a feat thought to be impossible at the time, and then punish it with a combo into his own Super. The crowd just explodes in excitement and disbelief, and the moment still gives chills down our spine so many years later.

There are many legendary moments that unfortunately couldn’t be included in the list, and many of the great players such as Nemo and MenaRD had to be left out too, as only 10 spots could be filled.

Some iconic moments such as Momochi’s controller malfunctioning during the great Grand Finals of EVO 2015 are undoubtedly unforgettable, but this is a top 10 and hopefully, you could remember or even get to know what are the greatest moments in the history of Street Fighter in the FGC.

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