The goal is to entice a foe to trade his superiority for what appears to be a winning solution. Ideally the merge itself creates an exploitable positional advantage that you can maintain and capitalize on. The better you make things look to the bogey the more aggressive he'll be and the greater advantage you can gain.
And that my friend is why you get a "punchers" chance when we fight. If I know it is you, or if after the merge I can see that the other guy knows what he is doing, my approach to the fight is completely different. What might appear to be an opportunity might really be a trap, and if the opportunity is not capitalized on then you are in deep poo, so cautious aggressiveness and careful decision making is a must.
Guys like you, Cobia, AKAK, Greebo and others present what appears to be a golden shot opportunity (the cheese in the trap) and once the opponent has committed, you easily spoil the opportunity and reverse the situation to your advantage and the next thing you know ... your in the tower.