Tekken Legend Knee Wins EVO Japan 2025, Secures Fourth Trophy From Historic Tournament Series

Bae “Knee” Jae-Min won his fourth EVO title at EVO Japan 2025 after a reverse-sweep against Han “Mulgold” Jae-gyun in the Grand Final. Knee is considered one of the greatest Tekken players in the world.

Despite this, he has not found success in Tekken 8, often ending tournaments outside the top 8. This EVO, however, showed Knee’s mastery of the game as he dominated the competition with his raw understanding of Tekken. Whilst his opponents showed unrelenting aggression, Knee’s defense never cracked, and he played with a calculated playstyle.

Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique, often considered Knee’s rival, was not in the tournament due to visa issues. Both of them have been having trouble adjusting to the game, but Arslan Ash showed results quicker, winning EVO 2024, a tournament where Knee ended his run at 17th.

Knee’s first EVO trophy was in 2013, where he won Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Since then, he has become a staple in the Tekken esports scene, winning EVO Japan 2018 and EVO 2022. Knee showed mastery of different characters, but Bryan is the character he’s most known for.

EVO, also called Evolution Championship Series, is one of the most historic fighting game tournaments in the world. It was founded in 1996 and was called Battle by the Bay. As time went on, the tournament attracted overseas players who flew to California to participate, eventually turning to the Evo annual tournaments of today.