Jonathan Sifleet

Jonathan "BIFF" Sifleet after winning the SFA3 Final Match at the International SMK Fun Cup in Paris, France March 2007

Introduction

Jonathan Sifleet (aka Biff) was born in 1983 in the Manor, South London, United Kingdom (UK). He is a hard worker and harder gamer with all round skills in many games known to man, and even games rarely known to man. He participated in SMK for Time Trials and a few record attempts in MKDS along with some competitions, otherwise he built on his favorite genre of Video Gaming, beat-em-ups, namely the Street Fighter series. He was later able to meet SMK karters who were also involved in Street Fighter and assist in a hosting a few kart meets in the UK alongside Sami Cetin. During this time Biff starred in his own short film along with several SMK players which led to a feature length sequel the following year; both have been made into DVDs.

Biff currently owns the Karter's Record for eating the most food in one sitting; 4 large mixed kebabs!! This was also seen featured on the Biff sequel DVD.

Biff is the founder of the famous 'Team UK' and its slogan 'Feel No Way' that the British SMK Team have used ever since in his honour.

History : How he became Biff...

Jonathan took an interest in gaming and living life to the max at an early age, when he reached Secondary School he met Sami Cetin and they instantly became friends, discussing gaming and Super Nintendo which they were both heavily into in 1994. Jonathan's early discussions with Sami on SMK and other friends including John Barber also begun here. It was at this time that Jonathan discovered a Glitch on Donkey Kong Country(SNES) shortly after its release in late 1994 whereby he was able to go through a wall and fall through infinite extra life balloons. This made Sami go home to repeatedly try to recreate this Glitch, however he has since been unable to do so. Sami then realised that there was something truly amazing about Jonathan when it came to the World of Gaming.

The next few years were a fight for survival for Jonathan and friends in Secondary School. Studying for exams and being made to take part in sports during Thunderstorms, Snow storms, Hail Storms, Hurricanes and whatnot was not by any means easy, particularly when their lives were plagued by gangs of rudeboys and other thugs that caused nothing but grief. Jonathan did however turn to his early passion for games as a method to destress from the battles during the each weekday. By the last two years of education, Jonathan decided that enough was enough, he would no longer stand for any nonsense from anyone. He started growing incredibly Hench by eating (without fail) a Large Döner Kebab Meat and Chips every day for lunch including the occasional extra large Chicken Burger in the late afternoons. He grew powerful, not only in sheer size and strength, but also in heart, wisdom and above all... gaming skills! He then earned the nickname Biff as several people called him in school. He has used this name since.

Biff participates in the 1998 Tekken 3 Tournament in the UK

In 1998, upon the game's Console release, there was a Tournament in London for Tekken 3 which Biff attended. It was a huge event that started with well over 1000 of the best players from all over the country. Biff made it to some of the final stages and managed to reach 15th place in the final playoffs. The competitor who knocked Biff out of the tournament at that stage went on to win the final. Biff however won a copy of the game for the console and a T-shirt.

Speed Run of Lylat Wars (Starfox 64)

Biff took a keep interest in Speed Running a few games, and although he has never been able to reach a World Record, he came very close to the records on Lylat Wars (Starfox 64) of the N64. Although a recent attempt has never been done, he had one of the fastest completion times in the UK; it would be interesting to see him challenge the top players if he attempted this again.

Rise of Biff in the Street Fighter Series

Biff's interest in the beat-em-ups during the 90s led to a strong career in the Street Fighter series. He has owned a copy of every single version of this game that was ever released on console. He has never specialised on one to reach the top in the World, however he holds a good knowledge in them overall, presenting a strong challenge to anyone within the UK. During 1999-2000 Biff was learning some good skills in Street Fighter Alpha 3 which later became his favourite version, and Fei-Long one of his favourite characters. He visited several small gaming events and even game shops with strong Street Fighter players and won numerous challenges against players in the UK over the next years. One occasion there was a top player from Scotland visiting whom Biff was able to defeat with Fei-Long, he lost a few other rounds but also defeated the other 3 challengers present.

Years later Sami presented Biff with a Street Fighter Challenger in the form of Tom Gaffikin. They instantly became rivals, both trying to edge each other out on different versions on Street Fighter, and later Street Fighter Alpha 3. Biff was adament after they had some battles with Tom's favorite character Akuma.

Biff rescues the Arcade Machine at Trocadero

One day Biff went to the Trocadero Arcades in London and saw that there was a huge queue to play on one of the Marvel vs Capcom game machines. The people waiting were a little annoyed as there was one player in front who was dominating and would not get off the machine as he kept beating every challenger. The queue of well over 100 people asked Biff to step up to see if he could help them out. He bravely went up to the challenger and selected his characters. After a tough battle, Biff managed to beat him. As the crowd cheered for Biff in relief that they would finally be able to freely use the machine, Biff's opponent put another coin in and demanded a rematch. He lost once again, and continuously repeated putting more coins in. After 4 or 5 losses in a row the opponent responded scornfully "Nah Blud! Nah Blud!". Biff said "Yes Blud! Yes Blud! Get off the machine, thats it you lost you are off now, let the rest of the people have a go". The crowd shook Biff's hand and cheered as he left the venue, thanking him for helping get rid of the dominating Marvel vs Capcom player. This victory would be the first of many more to come in the future.

Biff vs Tom Gaffikin

A games event was organised by the British Team and Sami Cetin which included an SMK Tournament for the intermediate level players and a few advanced karters, but also the main event: A showdown between Biff as Fei-Long and Tom Gaffikin as Akuma in Street Fighter Alpha 3. A Video was created on that day of the immense battle with Biff emerging victorious after a 3-1 win on the rounds. Biff also participated this day in the SMK tournament in a Match Race vs Jason Mathoora in which he won; but lost later in the Semi-Final vs John Barber.

Biff vs Steven Zwartjes

In September 2006, the British SMK Team were in conversation with the Dutch SMK Team and decided to create a surprise event on an October weekend of 2006. They were able to get in touch with Steven Zwartjes who was a former Dutch, European and World Champion in several games on Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64. Steven had won a Street Fighter contest back in 1993 which featured several gamers from Holland. He had played on other versions and was able to utilise his skills with his strongest character Ken really well. Steven was invited to London along with [Karel van Duijvenboden] for that weekend to give the opportunity for Biff to face the strongest Challenger from the Netherlands on Street Fighter Alpha 3. However there was one catch; Biff knew that he would have some matches with Tom that weekend, however he did not know that Steven was making a surprise visit!

Sami Cetin and Jason Mathoora then decided to make this into a short movie of Biff. However as they were not sure at the time how good it would turn out, so it was limited to a short intro detailing Biff's Street Fighter history vs Tom and then the matches vs Steven. Prior to the event, Biff had secretly been training with Sagat and was saying to Sami and John Barber that he would 'Feel no way to Bust out the Sagat'. This was when Biff originally used those classic lines. However John and Sami were convinced knowing that Biff would face someone as great as Steven, that it was certainly not a good idea to start training with a new character, but to stick to his best, Fei Long. Biff however, adament that he can make miracles happen stated "Nah man... seriously I'm feeling no way to just Bust out the Sagat".

Biff and Steven met on the day when Steven was brought downstairs to the games room, there was an instant uproar of fans present as they cheered the two challengers and looked upon with awe that we would finally see UK vs Netherlands in a battle to the finish. The gamers would play 2 whole matches against each other, the first was set to 3 rounds (which was originally intended to be 5), so the 2nd match was set to 5 rounds. Sami put together a Trailer for the 1st Biff Movie which received excellent reception from viewers of the SMK World. Shortly after a 2nd Trailer was released.

The first Match had Biff thankfully using his strongest Fei-Long to challenge Steven's Ken. The first round saw Biff and Steven matching each other perfectly, and Biff taking the lead towards the end nearly going for the kill. However a few slips left Biff open and Steven got a few last digs in to win the round when both were at almost 0 health. The room let out a scream of cheers as Biff's Fei-Long was shown the heat. The 2nd round, Biff put more pressure in, timing his Super attacks and pushed ahead more, Steven followed up some more attacks which did damage. But later Biff's special move took Steven out to make it 1-1. The final round was next on the first match with Steven getting some early digs following up with a Super, Biff made a flurry of attacks, some doing damage and some blocking. Biff was then in trouble, he tried to attack but Steven countered taking him out with a Super attack and some more kicks. Biff fought back with everything he could but the health was too short and Steven won the fight and match. Cheers were let out in the room as Steven got to hold the Champions belt. However it was not over...

The 2nd Match would next begin. Sami and John didn't know what to think, but then they remembered Biff mentioning his training with Sagat, however they had no idea to what level this was, or if it was going to help. But just to see how adamant Biff was that he could win the match they announced the idea to him. "Biff... Bust out the Sagat" Sami said. "Yeah Biff... Bust out the Sagat!" John said. Biff let out a small smile as he knew something, but what it was we didn't know. The 2nd match was prepared, Steven selected Ken again, and Biff went for Sagat. This was for 5 rounds. Biff started off strong, pummelling Steven with attacks and winning the first two rounds, winking at his Team. Steven however looked for more openings to attack and got some more hits in and connected supers with Ken's extra speed, winning rounds 3 and 4. The final round was next which would be the decider. It went right to the finish, all depended on who wanted the win the most. Both competitors were down on health, Steven needed about one more hard kick to take the win, Biff needed a few. Steven opted for a special move, but Biff executed a wild Super attack with Sagat in the last moment to cut through Steven's attack and defeat Ken, winning the match. Biff then took the Champions belt and held it up in the air. In an interview immediately after, Jason the cameraman asked Biff how it felt to be a Star. Biff replied saying "I already was before I come here so it doesn't matter!" The crowd laughed.

Biff vs Zwartjes : The Movie was created on DVD as a result and although Sami and Jason wished to go back to enhance it into a more feature length movie, this was never yet possible. It still stands as a good DVD with fun memories of all those involved. Rumours and plans of a later sequel in Norway were proposed but this never happened, instead some good prospects were available elsewhere.

Biff Part 2 : The Challenge in Paris

Biff's fame in Street Fighter Alpha 3 spread across Europe as 2006 ended. However his Fei-Long was defeated and needed rebuilding strength again. Each year at the SMK Fun Cup there was a gathering of the best French SMK players including their Top Street Fighter players. In March 2007 they organised another meeting in Paris, inviting gamers from around Europe to the event. The French gamers announced that they would like to Challenge Biff on Street Fighter Alpha 3 to test his skills. Biff, Sami and the British Team discussed this Challenge, and Biff soon after accepted. Biff then formed the British SMK and gamers Team into the official 'Team UK' and constantly used his famous line "I Feel no Way" as one of his favorite quotes when he had the willpower to achieve something. He would face untold skill in Paris with around 6 or 7 top Challengers and their final strongest member Anthony Pichard in a final showdown. Biff's retraining of his defeated Fei-Long was to begin...

Biff, Sami, Tom, John and Neil met up on several occasions to train Biff's Fei-Long, both in matches and against the CPU. His skills gradually regained and he reached a level higher than before with vigorous and untold of training methods. Additionally this same evening Biff broke the Karters and Elite record on being able to eat the most food in one meal which was 4 Large Doner Kebab Meat and Chips. As he left from his last night of training before the trip to Paris, Biff was adamant (Feeling no way) despite not knowing how strong his opponents would be, that he would emerge victorius vs French Street Fighter players in Paris.

The journey begun and Sami Cetin and Jason Mathoora were well into filming of the Biff Part 2 movie which would act as the sequel to Biff vs Zwartjes. This would become a feature length movie over 1 hour 40 mins in length. The newly formed 'Team UK - Feel No Way' followed their original founder, Biff and made their way to Paris. Biff and Tom could not stop their Street Fighter rivalry as they continued a mini challenge on the Eurostar with their GBAs. Biff met the French challengers at the venue and all exchanged looks at their rivals as they realised the battles to follow the next evening would be tough.

The following day a Football Match was organised between Biff's Team UK and Netherlands on one side, and the French/Swiss team on the other. It was a very close match; Biff managed to score an amazing volley from several yards on the far sideline 5 minutes after claiming that he has some 'Next Level Football skills coming up'. Biff's Team won the football narrowly at 7-6. Biff then decided to prove himself at driving, by driving one of the French SMK players' cars in reverse at high speed round the warehouse area of the venue. Biff was named 'The Incredible Biff' by the French gamers shortly after this stunt. Shortly after, they went on a city visit to Paris and the Eiffel Tower. John Barber provided some great photography in the city including that of Biff and Anthony Pichard that was later used for the Biff Part 2 DVD cover. At this stage the gamers were in deep discussion over who would win the Street Fighter Alpha 3 Tournament between Biff and Anthony Pichard. Predictions at this stage were mixed but they were all very excited about the upcoming match.

When the gamers arrived back at the venue for the big battle, Biff was really in Top form, sayin how he Felt no Way... No Way! The equipment was set up and the crowd gathered, cameras everywhere. British, Dutch, French, Swiss audience... Biff started the preliminary matches using various characters, including a revival of Sagat. His first match was a build up of Fei Long in which he made easy work of the first challenger. Some fought him well, but Biff had his henchness on his side and managed to defeat them. Anthony Pichard (Champion French Street Fighter) and Biff took their final seats, the crowd pondered over the characters they would use. Anthony Pichard, an avid Ryu specialist went for Evil Ryu, Biff was deciding, then kept with his well trained Fei-Long, to revive him since his defeat against Zwartjes. This would be out of 5 rounds, and Biff wanted to attack. The first round kicked off... both players were exchanging attacks. Biff put out a flurry of well timed normal attacks followed up with combos, Anthony made a few further attacks but a kick from Fei-Long managed to end it. The crowd cheered as Biff lowered his head and took a breath. The next round was set to be an extreme battle. Anthony pushed harder this time and took the lead as both competitors lost half their energy. Biff was on the ropes as he was backed into the corner, French gamers were cheering as their health was going near zero. Biff however wsnt going to give up without a fight, they resorted to kicks; Biff oingigh attack, followed by Anthony's attack then Biff's low kick to win the 2nd round, the crowd went wild. Round 3, Anthony went with a combo of great attacks knocking Fei-Long to the floor. Biff then remembering what happened to Fei-Long last time remembered that he must 'Feel no Way' so he rose up and fought his hardest, making a comeback and defeating Anthony on the final round. The crowd of onlookers, especially the support from the British Team let out an almighty cheer as Biff rose his hand up for taking the win. Biff's smile the moment after the match ended was shot on camera by John Barber (see photo at top of profile). The atmosphere was comparable with that of a World Cup Final.

Following the match, further carnage took place that night that was also recorded for the Biff Part 2 DVD. Sami Cetin worked on the Editing himself and also created a Bonus Disc with the making, interviews and other fun additions. The Teaser Trailer was released 6 weeks before the movie release and was loved by its fans. 2 weeks before the film's release on DVD saw an Official Release Trailer. On the release day of the film Sami and Jason prepared a Premiere with small video clips released online in Part 1 and Part 2. Again there was some discussion of a further sequel but this was not possible as of yet.

Further Gaming Events

Later in 2007 Biff attended a games event held by Sami Cetin that had visitors from France, Netherlands and Norway. Street Fighter 3 : 3rd Strike was a popular game amongst the gamers, Biff had the opportunity to face some of the French players once again and defeating many in some good matches despite limited time to play this version Marius Hukkelaas from Norway however was on an excellent level and defeated Biff in a series of matches on the NTSC version of the game.

In 2008 Biff attended a few gaming conventions in London along with Tom Gaffikin which featured several versions of Street Fighter. He challenged a Top French player on one of the SF2 Hyper Fighting versions and marginally lost after a good battle. Tom also participated in a few matches and spectated several others. They hope to attend more future meetings.

Biff and Philosophy

Biff also became a Philosopher of a unique kind by coming up with his own ways in life to make his way through, win his battles, and generally feel no way. Several Legendary 'Biff' Quotes have been documented and are honoured by many in the UK and abroad.

Other Crazy Achievements

• Biff claims to have been able to reach near 40mph down the spiral ramp of a Multistory carpark.

• Holds the land speed record for South London to Folkestone.

• Claims that if there was an apocalypse, that he could parry it.

The Future of Biff?

Biff now plays XBox 360 mostly, testing out several games that are released. He still looks forward to future local competitions of any kind and meeting up with fellow next level gamers. He once announced that he would release a Hardback Copy of his Autobiography when he reaches 40. Unless he changes his mind it will be titled: 'I Merked Crime... The Autobiography of Jonathan "Biff" Sifleet'. Jonathan continues to be an out and out Legend and a man of immense power. Once upon a time, the people of the World cried out for a Savior.. One that could withstand the elements, live life to the fullest and save the lives others; so God gave us Biff...

External Links

• Biff's SMK profile