KNEE Wins TEKKEN 8 at EVO Japan 2025
- South Korea's KNEE wins his first EVO Japan title in 7 years.
- South Korea's Mulgold finishes as the runner-up.
EVO Japan 2025 was held at Tokyo Big Sight from May 9th to 11th, 2025. In the TEKKEN 8 category, KNEE from South Korea (DRX) emerged as the champion. A total of 979 players from around the world participated in this division.
KNEE previously won the title at EVO Japan 2018 for TEKKEN 7. With this victory, he has achieved his second EVO Japan championship, marking a seven-year interval since his last win.
While South Korean players dominated the Top 8 by securing six spots, it was a high-level competition with international representation: PINYA from Japan finished in 4th place, and Shadow 20z from the United States ranked 7th.
Final Top 8 Standings
| Rank | Player | Characters Used |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | π°π· KNEE | Bryan |
| 2nd | π°π· MulGold | Claudio, Feng |
| 3rd | π°π· Mangja | Law, Lidia |
| 4th | π―π΅ PINYA | Raven |
| 5th | π°π· Meo-IL | Jack-8 |
| 5th | π°π· ULSAN | Dragunov, Reina |
| 7th | πΊπΈ Shadow 20z | Zafina |
| 7th | π°π· Rangchu | Kuma, Panda |
Grand Finals
The Grand Finals featured a matchup between KNEE (Bryan), who advanced through the Winners Bracket, and MulGold (Claudio/Feng), who fought his way up from the Losers Bracket. The two had previously faced each other in the Winners Semi-Finals, making this a rematch for MulGold.
In the early stages of the match, MulGold took the first two games, putting him on the verge of a bracket reset. However, KNEE demonstrated his adaptability and fought back to tie the score at 2-2. In the final game, MulGold switched characters from Claudio to Feng, but KNEEβs Bryan secured the final victory.