Bryant “Smug” Huggins is a professional “Street Fighter V” gamer who is making more than a name for himself in the industry.
The 25-year-old is actually one of the best North American Street Fighter players around and his fighting game Twitch stream is among one of the most popular. “You’re watching and you’re learning what to do in situations, and it’s fun to watch him play,” David “UltraDavid” Philip Graham, a fighting game commentator, told The Undefeated. “But on top of that, he’s fun to listen to and hang out with.”
It was a child growing up in Queens, New York, that Huggins first fell in love with gaming, and when Capcom debuted Street Fighter IV in 2008 a then 14-year-old Huggins was determined to dominate in the game.
“I loved everything about it,” Huggins recalled. “You have to learn every single character. You have to learn every single matchup in the game on a high level to have a really good understanding of what you’re getting into when you [face] other players.”
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He’d practice three to five hours a day, starting with in-game tutorials moving on to online play.
“I found out professional gaming was a thing before playing Street Fighter IV,” said Huggins, who participated in New York City’s Next Level Battle Circuit where enthusiasts compete against each other in a small space in Brooklyn.
“That’s how I learned, just asking questions when I see things I’ve never seen and I wanted to learn more about it,” Huggins said, who in 2017 signed with Rise Nation as his gaming sponsor.
Said Huggins: “Before I signed, I wanted to make sure the business was right. I didn’t want to sign anything right away. This was my first sponsor. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.”
And Rise seems impressed with Huggins. “Besides the most obvious [reason] being his success, Smug has all of the personal qualities of someone who we want to represent our organization,” Rise Nation co-owner Kahreem Horsley told ESPN. “He is extremely active when it comes to connecting with his followers on social media and he is one of the most entertaining people I have met. With his talent in game and his personality away from it, Smug has the ability to become one of the most recognizable names in all of esports.”
