Fighting game legend Umehara Daigo has earned an incredible number of accolades over the last 20 years. Over the next couple of months, he will earn an incredible number of frequent flier miles.
PT Fighters, organizers of Lockdown 2016, announced on Friday that Daigo will compete at the Lisbon, Portugal event on the weekend of Sept. 10. The Japanese star is likely to compete in the event’s Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator and Street Fighter V tournaments at the event, the latter of which is part of the Capcom Pro Tour.
Lockdown is the third international tournament to confirm Daigo’s participation in recent weeks. Organizers for OzHadou Nationals in Sydney, Australia confirmed Daigo’s participation two weeks ago, and organizers of East Coast Throwdown in New Jersey announced on Wednesday that he will participate at their event as well. OzHadou is scheduled for the final weekend of August, with East Coast Throwdown and Lockdown scheduled for the first and second weekends of September respectively.
East Coast Throwdown and Lockdown will be Daigo’s first appearances in Ranking events outside of Asia in the three-year history of the Capcom Pro Tour. He has made multiple international appearances at Premier events, which offer double the points of Ranking events and award the winner direct qualification into the Capcom Cup.
Daigo’s sudden interest in globe-hopping may be tied to his position as global ambassador for Twitch. The streaming platform signed Daigo in June to help promote the service around the world.
There may also be a bit of strategy involved in the events he has chosen. East Coast Throwdown takes place the same weekend as Ze Fighting Game Championship in China, while Lockdown takes place the same weekend as the Manila Cup in the Philippines. Both Asian events are likely to host fields loaded with talent, as Asia is almost universally considered to be the strongest in the world of Street Fighter.
As of this writing, Daigo is 34th in the Pro Tour standings, well outside of Capcom Cup qualifying position. Barring a victory at either a Premier event or a regional final, Daigo may need to earn about 300 points over the remainder of the season to qualify for the $250,000 year-end championship. Daigo was runner-up at last year’s edition, which was contested in Ultra Street Fighter IV.
