Talking shit isn’t a new occurrence in the fighting game community. But these days, where arcade chatter has turned into Twitter arguments, anyone can say their piece and be done without being dragged into actually proving themselves in-game. That’s why, when a spat between Razer’s Carl “Perfect Legend” White and Dominique “Sonic Fox” McLean of Critical Reaction turned from words to action, we immediately took notice.

The drama between the Evo champions started when White, in a discussion with another person, downplayed McLean’s recent tournament victories with Kitana as a matter of the character receiving buffs beforehand and the community’s general ignorance of the matchup instead of the young competitor’s inherent skill. As the conversation continued, McLean eventually threw down the gauntlet: first-to-five at Summer Jam 9. White’s Kung Lao against McLean’s Erron Black.

But with barbs flying back and forth, the stakes were quickly raised. Their exhibition would now be a first-to-ten with money on the line. Both accepted. Tournament organizer Eric “Big E” Small signed off. It was on.

“I told him that I am coming for him.”

To get an idea of their mindsets heading into this match, we contacted both White and McLean for some insight on what it means to them personally.

“Well the funny thing is I was just trying to get some matches in,” White explained. “Then he challenged me to the money match and I accepted.”

“I’m very confident I will win. I’ll admit, I haven’t had the fire to win, but it has returned. I don’t know what changed I guess not streaming, playing in tournaments etc for about a month has rekindled it. I’ve missed it. I was very burnt out throughout the year. I think it was from how often I was streaming and playing I didn’t give myself anytime for myself.

“Regardless, I feel really good. As far as what to accomplish? I just want to mash his head in and then do it again and again and again. Then after that I want to beat everyone else to. I just want to beat everyone. I know Sonic Fox is very good but I know I’m better. I told him that I am coming for him.”

McLean did not comment at the time of publishing.

Who will come out on top?

There’s no denying that McLean is on a roll right now in his competitive career. A multi-game master, he most recently took home first place for Mortal Kombat X at Evo 2015. While arguably the best player in the world at this point in time, that title once belonged to White, a two-time Evo champion in Mortal Kombat 9. Will his experience be enough to overcome McLean’s raw skill?

We’re curious what our readers have to say on this matter, so go ahead and take part in the quick poll we’ve included below and let us know your reasoning in the comments.

The image at the top of this article was graciously provided by the fine folks at Tsunami Works. You can find more of their work on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.