Top 10 highest-earning players in Fighting Games

The Fighting Games community has taken the spotlight recently. They are a massive community and legends like any other esports title. Some of the players have yet to reach legends status, however, their consistent performance across tournaments has earned them some serious cash. 

Here are the top 10 pros with the highest earnings from fighting games tournaments:

10. NuckleDu

Du 'NuckleDu' Dang is a professional Street Fighter player who is quite popular across the North American region for his skills and risky plays. Since entering the scene in 2012, he has secured multiple regional tournaments and Capcom Cup 2016. Currently playing for Shopify Rebellion, his total earnings are esteemed to be around $400,000.

9. Knee

Bae “Knee” Jae-Min specializes in Tekken and has won three EVO championships alongside notable wins like WSOE 7, and Red Bull Golden Letters. His introduction to fighting games started in early childhood, and he joined the competitive scene in 2010. Knee’s earnings to date are also estimated at around $400,000.

8. Kakeru

Despite starting his journey back in 2016, Kakeru entered the spotlight quite recently with the release of Street Fighter 6. While his journey in Street Fighter IV and V was fine, it always missed the mark. After winning the Gamers8 2023, Kakeru secured $400,000. His performance across the board also saw a huge improvement.

7. Hungrybox

Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma earned his share from melee fighting games like Super Smash Bros, Project M, Super Smash Bros Brawl and others. As one of the Five Gods in the Melee community, he holds several tournament wins which made him over $440,000. Hungrybox is still active in the esports scene and is still striking fear among opponents.

 6. Punk

Victor “Punk” Woodley, started very young and played multiple fighting games. He has landed in the top five position consistently across several tournaments like Capcom Cup 2019, Gamers8 2023 and ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational 2017. Currently, he boasts around $500,000 in total winnings.

5. MenaRD

Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II is another young and talented player with two Capcom Cups under his name. Mena usually plays Street Fighter but has also tried his hand at Guilty Gear, MK11 and Injustice 2. At just the age of 24, he has accumulated over $530,000, the majority of which came from Street Fighter.

4. Gachikun

Tsunehiro “Gachikun” Kanamori might not be as impactful as others, as he only plays Street Fighter. However, he jumped up the ladder after securing third place at the Capcom Cup X. He also has a few impressive achievements under his belt, like the Capcom Cup 2018. His total earnings from esports are over $550,000.

3. Tokido

Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi is a true veteran in the fighting games community. He is considered one of the Five Gods of fighting games, alongside the likes of Daigo and has been active in the esports scene since 2002. Over this time, he accumulated around $600,000 in winnings across multiple fighting games.

2. SonicFox

Dominique “SonicFox” McLean is another legendary player who has shown strides across multiple fighting games at a very young age. McLean also boasts the highest number of championship wins that have netted him over $700,000 from esports winnings alone.

1. UMA

Wang “UMA” Yuan-hao went from being no one to a millionaire with his win at Capcom Cup X which also made him the first Street Fighter 6 champion. Starting his career in 2017 with Street Fighter V. After switching to Street Fighter 6, he became quite popular in the leaderboard playing with Juri. He is now the only player with $1 million winning in the fighting game esports scene.