"It's kinda hard to play other fighting games because I'm a sweat" Big Bird talks Red Bull Kumite, other games, Ending Walker, and more (Exclusive)

Adel “Big Bird” Anouche is truly one of the best Street Fighter 6 players around right now, and he recently won the Red Bull Kumite 2025, clutching out an amazing win against EndingWalker. We’ve spoken with Big Bird a few times in the past, and it’s great to catch up yet again. Though it hasn’t all been big victories over the past year, the Red Bull Kumite win is certainly a step forward in the right direction.

We spoke about a variety of topics in our most recent interview. From Big Bird’s performance in the recent Red Bull Kumite, to why he’s still a Rashid main, and many others. It’s always great to catch up with such a prominent Street Fighter 6 player and pick their brain about what’s going on in the game at this point in time.

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Big Bird on Red Bull Kumite 2025, playing against Ending Walker, and more

Q. First, thank you for taking the time to chat with us once again! It’s been about a year or so since our last chat, and as such, a lot’s happened. You’ve taken part in quite a few competitions since then, from EVO to the most recent Red Bull Kumite. How are you feeling about your start this year?

Big Bird: I feel great, this is a wonderful bounce back considering I kind of fumbled Capcom Cup, it’s also a great feeling and confidence booster since I’ve been low on confidence lately towards my gameplay/level.

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Q. At the Red Bull Kumite, you really faced the who’s who of talented players, including arguably one of the best in the world, MenaRD. What kind of prep goes into a tournament like this one?

Big Bird: I just treat it like any other event honestly, you’re bound to face great players at every event, I just make sure I know the habits of these players and prepare well for the match ups I might potentially run into!

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Q. On the topic of opponents, the Red Bull Kumite was a real stacked roster of incredible players. Are there any players you were excited to potentially face, like Bonchan, Daigo, or Xiaohai?

Big Bird: There’s no one in particular I wanted to face, but if I had to choose, probably Xiao Hai as I wanted to get my runback after losing to him in UFA, in Paris! But other than that, I was looking forward to every match as they’re all great players.

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Q. Your Grand Finals matchup was against EndingWalker, someone you’re familiar with. You two faced off in Loser’s Finals of EVO 2024, and now you’ve battled again at the Red Bull Kumite. How do you feel EndingWalker has grown since then?

Big Bird: I’ve faced him in SFL EU post Evo, but I haven’t faced him since then, he’s switched characters and now he’s a Ryu player, he’s definitely been playing with less nerves compared to Evo as I remember at evo post our match, he said that he was very nervous! It’s good to see him play more relaxed and more how he wants to play!

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Q. Another thing I loved about the Red Bull Kumite is that it’s all Ft5, which can be pretty grueling to do over and over again. Do you prefer this kind of tournament, or perhaps Ft3?

Big Bird: I love FT5 as it truly shows the best possible play from both sides, ft2 can be very short and not enough time, ft3 I feel is perfect as it’s not too long or too short!

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Q. The live drawing of the placements was also a nice touch in the Red Bull Kumite. It reminded me a lot of Dragon Ball’s Budokai Tenkaichi. Would you like to see more tournaments adopt this — perhaps for the final rounds of the tournament to shake things up?

Big Bird: I think these sort of draws are good for invitationals and not open bracket because you’d want to seed the best possible way to prevent the best two players from playing each other early in the bracket.

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Q. Despite how many characters are on offer in Street Fighter 6, you remain a staunch, and masterful Rashid player. Did any of the season 2 characters interest you? What tools does Rashid have that keep him at the forefront for you?

Big Bird: I’ve said a lot that I think that S2 characters are very boring and I didn’t like any of them, Rashid for me remains the most fun/expressive character in the game and it helps that he’s also strong, I was also a Rashid main in SF5 so I felt he was perfect fit for me!

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Q. We’re almost three years into Street Fighter 6 now, with the June update/Elena release marking three years. How do you feel the game is now, versus where it started? Is there anything you think the game is still missing, mechanically or otherwise?

Big Bird: I feel the game is pretty much the same since the first year, I’d like to see a new mechanic maybe or adjustments to drive rush/throw loops to make the game play differently as it has always been a change in who’s strong and who’s not, but the core gameplays has been the same since then!

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Q. While you primarily play Street Fighter, there are some truly amazing fighting games available and on the way right now? Have you looked into any of them like Iron Saga VS., the upcoming Garou, Virtua Fighter 5, or anything else particularly caught your eye?

Big Bird: Garou looks fun, I might try it, but other than that, nothing really! It’s kinda hard to play other fighting games because I’m a sweat and I’d like to learn if I play which means invest a lot of time into it.

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Q. The continued success of yourself and Angry Bird have shone a pretty serious spotlight on the talent coming out of the UAE fighting game community. Would you say that a love of fighting games and competition has grown in your local community?

Big Bird: I’d say it has grown in general in the Middle East because it has given people a lot of motivation here to grind and enter tournaments and what not, and hopefully we start seeing more and more players from the region travel and have success!

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Q. What does the rest of 2025 hold for Big Bird? Do you have any major goals, or anything you’d care to share with your fans?

Big Bird: Evo Japan is next and EWC, as well as the rest of the CPT events! I’d like to do well again at Evo and who knows, maybe win it after getting 2nd twice there! I’d like to thank my team REJECT, and Red Bull for believing in me and their continued support.

They have been amazing to me and I want to keep doing well to make them proud! I’d also like to thank everyone who was rooting for me in Kumite and were happy to see me win, makes the win even sweeter!

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You can find Big Bird creating content on Twitch, YouTube, and posting on X. There’s a lot more competitive Street Fighter 6 coming this year, so you’ll no doubt see more of him competing around the world.