One of Europe’s biggest fighting game tournaments, the Ultimate Fighting Arena (UFA), wrapped up on November 13. The three-day event in France was populated by big-name competitors like Goichi “GO1" Kishida and Victor “Punk” Woodley, but it was teenage mad lad EndingWalker who ended up making waves by not just taking first in Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, but rushing offstage immediately after. It looked hilariously disrespectful, but EndingWalker said he was just “overwhelmed” by it all.
EndingWalker is a fresh face to the competitive fighting game scene, having only been competing since around January 2021. In the nearly two years since he hit the circuit, EndingWalker has participated in copious online Street Fighter V tournaments, typically placing in the top 10—if not outright winningas the relatively unpopular character Ed, a B-to-C-tier fighter known for his hit-and-run combat style. The UFA Street Fighter V tourney, only his second “offline” event, is his latest and most prominent win to date. Having pummeled folks like Punk and five-time Capcom Cup qualifier Amjad “AngryBird” Alshalabi, he’s clearly a dangerous new competitor.
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Fighting game news site EventHubs reported EndingWalker won every single match set he played in, losing only one round to Dhalsim main Nathan “Mister Crimson” Massol. After tearing through the competition, Walker found himself facing Chun-Li player and Street Fighter coach Valentin “Valmaster” Petit.
Major footsies ensued, with each competitor gauging the other’s combat style before going in. EndingWalker gave Valmaster very little room to breathe, constantly stunning him and punishing his whiffed moves. It was brutal to watch. But what was most devastating about the match-up was the way he exited after winning the tourney.
My dude straight-up said, “I’m out,” and just…Walker-ed off the stage, casually bypassing his first-place trophy. The crowd went wild for the victory, sure, but what sent me were the commentators, who couldn’t believe what they just saw.
“Stay on the stage, young man,” one of the commentators yelled. “He just walked off,” the other said before concluding that the mad lad was “amazing.”
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Walker eventually did return to the UFA stage to claim his trophy, later tweeting that he was “a bit overwhelmed in the end, which is why I left kinda quickly after winning.” He thanked everyone for the congratulations, said he had “a great time,” and mentioned this tournament was his second-ever offline event. The kid’s got a bright future in the FGC if he keeps this up.
Kotaku reached out to EndingWalker for comment.