Lim “Ulsan” Soo-hoon has done it again. The South Korean star defended his Tekken 8 crown at the 2025 Esports World Cup in Riyadh, picking up his second straight EWC trophy and proving once more why he’s one of the best to ever touch the game.

✨ Excellence has a name today!

Congratulations to your BACK-TO-BACK TEKKEN 8 Champion Ulsan 🏆 pic.twitter.com/8mzkoDUyVD

— Esports World Cup (@EWC_EN) August 16, 2025

It wasn’t an easy ride either. Across four days of stacked competition, Ulsan had to battle through some of the world’s most feared Tekken players. Early on, he took down legends like JDCR and the reigning Tekken World Tour champ Rangchu. A loss to Kkokkoma in the second phase could have derailed his run, but instead it seemed to fire him up. He went on to eliminate EVO 2025 champion Arslan Ash, before carving a path through the playoffs with dominant first-to-five sets.

By the time the grand final rolled around, it was all South Korea. Ulsan faced off against Yoon “LowHigh” Sun-woong in a Dragunov vs Bryan showdown. The result? A 5–2 win for Ulsan, locking in both the title and a massive $250,000 prize from the million-dollar pool.

HE HAS DONE IT!@tekkenUlsan WINS TEKKEN 8 AT EWC AGAIN!! pic.twitter.com/p76OSUL8XW

— EWC Extra (@EWC_Extra) August 16, 2025

Dragunov Still Gets it Done

Despite balance changes and new DLC fighters shaking up Tekken 8’s meta, Ulsan stuck with his tried-and-true Dragunov. While others experimented with fresh characters like Clive from Final Fantasy XVI or brought back classics like Heihachi, Ulsan’s loyalty paid off. Just like in 2024, Dragunov carried him all the way to the trophy.

Korea on Top of the Tekken World

This year’s results only reinforce how strong South Korea is in Tekken right now. Six of the top eight were Korean players, with the other two spots filled by Japan’s chikurin and PINYA. Even further down the bracket, the dominance was clear, 12 of the top 16 hailed from Korea.

Image via esportsworldcup.com

For DN Freecs, Ulsan’s victory was extra sweet. It not only secured the organisation its first EWC win of 2025 but also earned them a valuable 1,000 Club Championship points, bumping them up the standings.

What’s Next for Ulsan

After lifting the EWC trophy two years in a row, Ulsan now turns his focus back to the Tekken World Tour. Sitting fifth on the global leaderboard, he’s in a solid spot to qualify for the TWT Finals later this year. With back-to-back Esports World Cup titles under his belt, he’s chasing something bigger now: legend status.

As Ulsan himself put it after the win: “I wanted to prove myself on this stage, and I’ve done it. I’m still hungry, I just want to make myself a legend.”

If this tournament is anything to go by, he’s well on his way.

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