Thank you for the translation, this is very interesting. I don't understand japanese so when I was watching Ore Wo Tore, I was very excited with the data that Gemini(the data analyst) showed but I was surprised that Daigo's reaction was kinda harsh (from Daigo's gestures and responses seen on Gemini's expression). So this video explain why Daigo reacted that way, very interesting. Daigo's experience really shows here. And I hope Gemini will improve his presentation. He got one axe, so idk what will happen for his Ore Wo Tore result.
I saw a translated video of their Topanga grand finals and in the prematch interview Daigo is really confident that he will win against Momochi, this cab be the reason
The match Daigo is talking about here was the final round of Topanga League 3 (2013). The match you're talking about was the final round of Topanga League 5 (2015), for that he spent the whole year researching Momochi and Ken to beat him. He actually teamed up with Bonchan, both using Ken to play against each other's mains (Sagat and E.Ryu) because neither of them wanted to let the obvious favorite take the whole thing. They even fought over the available time of Kichi-Ken, a player who wasn't on the highest level of competition but was extremely good as a sparring partner because he could change his style quickly and prepare for any tricks and tactics that Momochi might end up using. Eventually, the final round of TL5 came; Momochi won against Kazunoko, Nemo, and Dashio, but lost against Umehara and Bonchan, the only players who had gone through the extreme anti-Momochi research. Umehara and Bonchan said that while Momochi was strong, they had already seen everything and knew how to counterplay anything he tried to do. Despite the final result being a 4-way tie (Momochi, Kazunoko, Bonchan, and Umehara all had 3 wins and 2 losses in the final league), the head-to-head results miraculously ranked Umehara as the winner (because he won against Bonchan and Momochi) and Bonchan as the second (because he won against Momochi and Kazunoko). Source: Kachitagari TV episode 168 (勝ちたがりTV #168, can be found unofficially on both Niconico and RU-vid, spread in several parts).
Short answer Daigo gave is that Momochi was the one pressing the attack and forcing Michael to react to him. You always want to be the one forcing your opponent to react to what you're threatening and not vice versa.
