‘Book it, I’m In’- Conor McGregor Campaigns for Lightweight Tournament at UFC 257 Press Conference

Conor McGregor has definitely had some sort of a change in how he approaches the fight business now. After a few years away from the sport, Conor seems to have rediscovered the drive that helped him become a mega-star in the first place.

He has been saying he wants to have an active schedule since last year, but COVID hampered that. 2021 is different, and Conor is main eventing the first PPV of the year against Dustin Poirier.

The co-main event also features top Lightweight contenders in Dan Hooker and Michael Chandler. Having all 4 of them available for the same card meant they were going to be in the press conference together.

This naturally led to the question of a Lightweight tournament that Conor was the first to volunteer for.

Poirier and Chandler also joined up with Conor. However, Dan Hooker took longer than expected to respond. Turns out that was because he was having a hard time figuring out the accent of the man asking about the tournament. If this actually happens, it would be a breath of fresh air in the UFC.

Conor McGregor: Platitudes for a press conference or genuine plans?

This can’t be the first time Conor McGregor or any of the other fighters on stage heard about a possible tournament. The fans have been suggesting this as the number one solution to the current bottleneck at the top of the Lightweight division. However, is this endorsement of the tournament a genuine plan?

One could say that Conor does want to fight and technically would be willing to fight them, anyway. But one of the reasons why all fighters announced an agreement on this was because they know the UFC will not book it. Dana White has criticized the tournament format on which the promotion was built before. His stance switching on the same seems highly unlikely.

However, fans can still salivate thinking about a possible tournament. Throw in Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, and Tony Ferguson, and you get one hell of a tournament.