Daigo Explains Why He Joined 'OP' REJECT

Daigo Umehara shocked fans when it was revealed that he would be joining REJECT for their Street Fighter League campaign for 2025. 

In a recent stream, Daigo explained his reasoning behind joining a team that already looks incredibly powerful. By joining REJECT, Daigo will join Fuudo (an Evo winner), Tokido (an Evo winner), and LeShar (one of the strongest young talents in the world). Talking about joining REJECT, Daigo said it was because it looked like they were having fun, and he wanted to have fun too. 

Many pointed out just how strong team REJECT is, and perhaps could be too strong for the league. Daigo also said in the video that he normally wouldn't join a team like REJECT, it would be no fun, but things are different now with so many good players and good teams. 

Daigo is right, as while REJECT is super strong, they don't necessarily feel stronger than teams like ZETA Division (Kakeru, Momochi, Higuchi, Hikaru), Crazy Raccoon (Bonchan, Dogura, Shuto, Kazunoko), or even Good 8 Squad, who have won SFL twice and also the World Championship twice. 

The other topic that came up was the exclusion of Akira from the Street Fighter League team for the 2025 season. Akira, who joined REJECT last year after quitting his traditional job to become a pro player, did well in the last season of Street Fighter League JP with 5 wins out of 7 in the regular season. Daigo and Fuudo's appearance on the team means that Akira will not partake in the league with REJECT much like Yamaguchi at ZETA. 

Daigo explained that it would be natural for Akira to be a bit sad, seeing as he quit his job for this and could even potentially be loaned to another team for the season. 

Street Fighter League Japan will start in August 2025.