Street Fighter champion Daigo Umehara joins up with Mad Catz

After completely rebuilding its image with the well-received Street Fighter IV FightSticks, and securing the rights to produce the official controllers for future Rock Band games, Mad Catz is set to further position itself as a high-end controller company through a very targeted celebrity endorsement.

Daigo "The Beast" Umehara, last seen battling US champ Justin Wong at Capcom's Fight Club, is considered one of the best Street Fighter players in the world. He'll now use and promote Mad Catz's arcade sticks at tournaments. That's great for him and all, but the partnership benefits us as well: in addition to acting as a pitchman, Umehara will offer his considerable expertise to Mad Catz during the design process on future joysticks. Usually, we'd roll our eyes at a "pro gamer" attaching his name to peripherals, but there's a promise of really nice arcade sticks here!

Source [PDF]: Mad Catz Announces Champion Gamer 'Daigo "The Beast" Umehara' Joins Team Mad Catz