Daigo To Return To Competitive Street Fighter 6

Daigo Umehara, one of Street Fighter's most dominant players, has announced that he will return in a competitive capacity this year after something of a hiatus. 

Daigo made this known during his exit interview at the recently concluded Red Bull Kumite where he lost in the first round of matches to NoahTheProdigy 5-3. While speaking with Zhi about how he lost, he said that he will be returning to competitive Street Fighter 6 and will step back from streaming. 

Since he gave the interview in Japanese, it was thanks to the translation skills of Ryan Hart, that the reality dawned on everyone. In a tweet talking about this, Ryan Hart, a Guinness Record holder, said: "ABSOLUTELY HUGE INFO DROP FROM DAIGO AT RBK  PARIS !!😱😱😱

"This year I will quit streaming and return to SF6 as a sport for serious competition once more!!!"

"FULL POST MATCH NOAH INTERVIEW TRANSLATION WHEN ASKED ABOUT PLAYING YOUNG NOAH:

"Daigo: "Well actually I felt that (Noah's) counterattack response and movement speed was really fast and hard to deal with, but... well...from this year... I will quit streaming and return to SF6 as a sport and compete seriously once more, so with a bit of time I'd like to take my revenge (Vs Noah)."

Daigo took a backseat at the start of Street Fighter 6 first taking time to learn the game, and stepping back so that younger players will get a chance to shine. For this reason, he didn't partake in the first Street Fighter League for Street Fighter 6 and instead focused on streaming and the occasional trip. He still went for huge events like Evo and the likes, but he wasn't as prominent anymore. 

With this announcement, though, it is safe to say Daigo will make more trips, stream less, and perhaps train more in a bid to compete again. 

Naturally, for fans of a certain vintage, this news was really exciting as Daigo has always been a player who has elicited a reaction from fans. It will be interesting to see what his next move will be.