RIP Mike Begum
On March 19th, 2024. with a sad and heavy heart, Mike Begum, a competive Street Fighter player, has passed. Mike, better known as BrolyLegs, was an American professional fighting game player primarily known for competing in Street Fighter. Begum's accolades as a competitive player include being ranked the #1 Chun-Li player online in Ultra Street Fighter IV from 2013 to 2017 and placing #25 in Street Fighter V in the 2022 Evolution Championship Series (EVO). He was affiliated with the charity AbleGamers and was a member of the Street Fighter League.
Michael Begum was born on April 26, 1988,in Brownsville, Texas, to Josefine Begum and Michael Begum, Sr. His father was a welder and a mechanic and his adoptive paternal grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, built a chain of women’s clothing stores after immigrating from the Soviet Union. His parents separated when Begum was six years old, and Begum resided in Brownsville with his father and younger brother Johnny. His father died in January 2009 from a brain aneurysm, leaving Begum and Johnny to live with his mother and younger sister, who had both moved to Houston following the separation. In 2019 he moved with his mother and brother to Austin, Texas shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin, Texas.
Begum began playing video games competitively as a teenager, with one of his first competitive fighting games being Super Smash Bros. in 2004. He regularly attended local Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments with his brother. Begum's gaming nickname "BrolyLegs" was a reference to the character Broly from the anime Dragon Ball Z, a series he was a fan of as a teenager. In Street Fighter, Begum primarily competed as the character Chun-Li, stating that her abilities matched his playstyle; Begum was able to perform all of her moves despite only being able to efficiently reach some of the gamepad buttons in gameplay.