Yesterday afternoon, Lupe Fiasco beat Daigo Umehara in Street Fighter V. The result was unexpected, and some believe, perhaps, staged.
There could be other factors the contributed to this outcome. Maybe Daigo was jet-lagged, maybe he’s still not that familiar with Street Fighter V or maybe he was being polite. Or maybe, you know, Lupe is good.
Prior to publication, Kotaku reached out to Alex Verrey at MadCatz and asked if the Lupe fight was staged. Verrey replied, “No sir, it was not! Daigo would never allow such a thing.”
Congrats to @LupeFiasco ! Great match vs @daigothebeast ! #LupeVSDaigo pic.twitter.com/6AUevZlp0q
— MAD CATZ (@MadCatz) February 16, 2016
(Kotaku also reached out to Capcom and Daigo’s spokesperson, but haven’t heard back yet.)
LUPE BEAT DAIGO AND HE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT pic.twitter.com/yJ2H7SQj3R
— Wario64 (@Wario64) February 16, 2016
Hrm…
Daigo sandbag is so good. When Lupe jumps you see him pump the anti air uppercut and then think, “Oh yeah I have to let him jump”
— Stephen Lyon (@Sajam) February 16, 2016
@JWonggg Obviously a staged publicity event, Daigo sandbaggin’ harder than the coast guard
— Kevin Kim (@aznxk3vi17) February 16, 2016
So you mean to tell me
Lupe can beat daigo
But justin wong cant
— Running Man (@Mahouko) February 16, 2016
Lupe Fiasco took a game of Street FIghter V against Daigo Umehara. #STAGED
— Jovan St. Lawrence (@LordXenu925) February 16, 2016
The sandbag is so real right now in the Lupe vs Daigo match ? #SFV
— Sherlock Homeboy (@Son_Dula) February 16, 2016
How the heck Daigo lose to Lupe in SF?! Hope that junk was staged…. LOL
— Jeremy (@TheGamer2323) February 16, 2016
@fals1fy It was 100% fake. Daigo made so many clearly intentional combo drops/lack of blocks.
— SUGOI | Raziek (@SUGOI_Raziek) February 16, 2016
@fals1fy fake lol. Lupe shoryud every time on wakeup. Daigo never blocked lol. Its the equivalent of playing in Smash without sheild option.
— UA|Jbandrew (@ULTRA_Jband) February 16, 2016
Others thought it was the real deal.
[Via EventHubs]
Some weren’t sure what to think.
[Via EventHubs]
I can’t stop laughin at how Lupe actually beat Daigo lmaooo watching the twitch replay over and over idk if it’s legit or rigged
— homiemustardketchup (@raymondalmond) February 16, 2016
Then, there are those who just took it for what it was: an exhibition match between a major recording artist and a top-notch professional gamer.
[Via EventHubs]
[Via EventHubs]
[Via EventHubs]
bunch of ppl are like “CLEARLY THE LUPE/DAIGO THING WAS FAKE” and i’m just like
y’all
let yourselves believe in magic and wonder again.
— philko (@pkollar) February 16, 2016
All the people getting all angry saying that Lupe vs Daigo was fake are the same kids you grew up with that told you Santa wasn’t real
— Dust (@juiceDust_) February 16, 2016
Some people thought the most important thing is that the fight will help the fighting game community grow even more.
Maybe it was staged. Maybe Daigo thought it was first to 5. All I care about is how the community will grow after this #FGC #LupeVSDaigo
— Tullies (@KendamaSama) February 16, 2016
IMO: Lupe vs Daigo was staged, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that it brought publicity to SFV and the FGC.
— VS | Master Raven (@VSMasterRaven) February 16, 2016
Some real talk:
Lupe Fiasco just beat Daigo in Street Fighter 5.
Brb telling that girl how i feel since we live in a world where anything is possible
— Golden (@GoldenSRL) February 16, 2016
The Daigo v Lupe game is totally rigged. If it’s not, then Lupe needs to stop making music and start playing Street Fighter.
— e (@eugenerino) February 16, 2016
And finally:
Find yourself someone who looks at you the way Lupe Fiasco looks at Daigo pic.twitter.com/3eczzId1zD
— Rick Grayson (@IFCRicky) February 16, 2016
You can watch the fight and judge for yourself below.
Top GIF via Random Gaming [YouTube]
Comments
8 responses to “The Theory That The Lupe Vs. Daigo Fight Was Staged”
Seriously… could madcatz not have posted a better pic then that one? lol
Is Daigo so much of a god in FGC circles that the idea that he can’t be beat spawns stupid theories like this?
Yes.
His space control is unreal. The only way I could see this being real is if Daigo hasn’t played SFV before.
If it was staged then surely Daigo would have won. He’s still the poster boy for Street Fighter tournaments, so giving him the first, official victory would have made more sense.
unless the idea was to create social commentary. In which case a shock upset will get spoken about a lot more than an expected win.
Does Lupe actually have a rep in the gaming circles or was this just a big media thing with a celeb vs a gaming celeb type thing?
After watching the match I’m convinced it was either staged or Daigo threw the match on purpose. Didn’t expect it to be so painfully obvious though…
Another article full of twitter comments (and three small paragraphs)
For those who know, can someone explain what “sandbagging” is? I would have thought at the bare minimum Kotaku could explain that to us… considering all the twitter comments you managed to post in one ‘article’
Lol anyone who has watched more than a few daigo fights could see he was playing half assed. POSSIBLY a combination of jetlag/unfamiliarity with SF5/the fact it wasnt a tournament could explain it….but theres a reason the beast is basically considered the michael jordan of fighting games.
The Theory That pretty much all matches of every sport with colossal amounts of money involved are rigged in some way.