If you’re a fan of competitive Street Fighter, there’s no way you haven’t heard the name Daigo Umehara. He’s the most legendary player in the whole fighting game community with a career spanning more than three decades at this point and has proven his skill in fighting games more times than most of us could ever count.
Similarly, any fan is also very well aware of Saul Mena, more commonly known by his moniker MenaRD. Coming from an at the time underrepresented region in the competitive fighting game space, the Dominican Republic, to win Capcom Cup in 2017 to put his nation on the map he went on to keep winning for years and finally grabbed a second Capcom Cup championship at the end of Street Fighter 5 for its final Capcom Cup. Well, this morning, we’ve seen an interaction between these two players that is exciting, to say the least…
A few hours ago, MenaRD took to X to write out a lengthy letter to BST|Daigo, explaining his reverence for the legendary player and his willingness to fight him on his home turf, so to speak — long sets.
For the longest time, it’s been known that even if you may be able to beat Daigo Umehara in a regular tournament format, trying to best him in a first-to-10 is an entirely different beast.
Classic exhibitions were held in Street Fighter 4 against Evo champions of the time, GG|Xian and Infiltration, back in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Later, Daigo’s very own event Kemonomichi had him battling against his long-time rival Rohto|Tokido in Street Fighter 5, famously culminating in Tokido being reduced to tears at his loss.
His prowess in these longer sets have even been compared to DC Comics Batman, a character who’s often cited to be able to win against any super-powered being within his own canon our outside of it, as long as he has enough “prep time”. Indeed, “prep time Daigo” seems to be on the same level of unmatched skill.
This is something MenaRD is well aware of, beginning his message to Daigo by saying ” I want to confess that I firmly believe you are the best ever at preparing for long sets in Street Fighter”, following up by remarking “It would be the greatest honor of my career if I had the opportunity to fight you in a first to 10.”
Despite the storied career that MenaRD already has at the still very young age of just 25 years old, MenaRD clearly feels that there’s still more he needs to do in Street Fighter, with the fabled “prep time Daigo” being his current goal.
There’s no intention of pressuring Daigo in this message, as MenaRD clarifies that it doesn’t have to be anytime soon, but that he wishes to have this set up at some point in the future and hopes that Daigo will accept his challenge when and if he feels would be a good time for him.
MenaRD’s message was clearly originally written in English and has later been translated to Japanese, and its original intent can be found in his post below.
Hello,
I hope you have been well. I want to confess that I firmly believe you are the best ever at preparing for long sets in Street Fighter. Your incredible record has proven just how impossibly strong you become when you prepare for a player.
It would be the greatest honor of…
— MenaRD (@_MenaRD__) February 13, 2025
Of course, it didn’t take long before Daigo saw this message and during streaming, he reads through it and ponders it for a few moments.
After his silence, Daigo remarks, translated from Japanese by myself: “I see. Alright. Let’s do it, sometime.”, perhaps the most casual response imaginable but also very in-character for Daigo.
His stream chat goes wild at the remark and after a few more seconds of silence, Daigo’s next followup is to say in a joking manner “Tokido isn’t watching, so it’s fine”.
You can see Daigo’s response below, as clipped by HiFight.
Daigo accepted MenaRD’s letter of challenge pic.twitter.com/EBaCBsOnxq
— HiFight(ハイファイト) (@HiFightTH) February 13, 2025
The prospect of a long set between Daigo Umehara and MenaRD is an enticing one, to say the least. While the stated time is “sometime in the future”, now that the possibility has been raised we’ll most likely see it happen for Street Fighter 6 within the next year or perhaps next few years.
What are you hoping to see from such a grand exhibition? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Event Hubs
