Professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player Juan ‘Hungrybox’ Debiedma went viral over the weekend after fainting while celebrating a victory over fellow player Hugh ‘SluG’ Hegarty.
Supernova is a massive Smash Bros. tournament in Baltimore that takes place every summer. 33-year-old Hungrybox — known as one of the ‘Five Gods’ of the competitive Melee scene — was in attendance, and he celebrated a victory so hard that he literally passed out.
Hungrybox was facing off against SluG to secure a spot in the Top 16 bracket when the viral moment happened. It was an extremely close game, with Hbox saying he went down to the wire against his opponent in a nail-biting 3-2 set, going down to his last stock in game five.
just fainted for the second time ever playing melee, AMA
(Won game 5 last stock vs SluG for Top 16) pic.twitter.com/qc4W6fNH8Z
— hungrybox (@LiquidHbox) August 8, 2026
As is tradition within the fighting game community, Hungrybox popped off after winning the final game… but he might’ve popped off a little too hard, as he stumbled and fainted, falling to the floor.
Videos of the incident quickly went viral within the broader FGC, sparking concerns about the player’s health. Luckily, Hbox confirmed that he was unharmed, and even “had water and a very good lobster roll for lunch prior.”
In response to the influx of worried comments, Hungrybox opened up about his ongoing weight loss journey in another post, clarifying that he’d most likely fainted due to screaming very loudly after suddenly jumping up from his seat — something that happened once before in 2021 when he won a set against Avery ‘Ginger’ Wilson during a live stream.
Not that anyone cares, but I’m down 12 pounds since June and plan on losing 30 more by January with very strict diet and exercise (soccer or gym daily and finally learned how to cook at home with air fryer and other pieces)
Also I gotta say since this getting repetitive:
You…
— hungrybox (@LiquidHbox) August 10, 2026
“You can’t hear it in the video too well, but I basically scream as loud as I can for an extended period of time, and that’s what caused me to faint,” he wrote. “I think if anyone tries to yell for 10 seconds straight standing up without taking a breath, they’d get dizzy too, lol. [It] wasn’t about getting up too quick, and I’ve never passed out from just getting up from a chair lol.”
“When I went to the doctor last time about it a few years ago (first faint), there wasn’t really anything conclusive, apart from a slightly elevated red blood cell count. Blood pressure was normal and still is, but yeah, I’ll likely go again just to double check anyway. Just wanted to share in case people were curious.”
In the end, Hungrybox made it all the way to the Top 8 bracket in Losers side, ultimately finishing 4th with a loss to Zain.
This mf HBox forgot his badge, got stopped in front of VIP, and just pointed at a nearby ad with his fkn face on it and got in. pic.twitter.com/1JfQ0PgS5L
— XIF (@TheXIF) August 9, 2026
This wasn’t the only wild thing that happened to Hungrybox at Supernova; the Melee god forgot his badge for the event and was stopped by security, prompting him to point at his face on a Zenni eyewear ad to confirm his identity.
This is the latest big moment to happen in the Smash Scene after two women won Doubles at a SuperMajor for the first time in history the previous weekend, a record-setting achievement that Hungrybox celebrated on social media.
Image Credit: Ian Witlen / Red Bull Content Pool
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
