Conor McGregor failed to indicate however the UFC 300 press conference did get a surprise guest appearance from one other fighter.
‘Notorious’ recently hinted that his comeback fight against Michael Chandler could be officially announced at a press event on Thursday evening.
UFC CEO Dana White began the show by brushing off rumours about an impending update on his biggest star, saying: “Don’t consider the whole lot you read on the web.”
Still, fans thought that McGregor may make some style of cameo ahead of UFC 300, which takes place on the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday – but he didn’t.
Besides White revealing everyone on the cardboard will likely be competing to win $300,000 in bonus money, it was a reasonably uneventful press conference.
Nevertheless, things modified when the UFC boss invited one final query from the audience and a well-recognized face stepped as much as the mic with a request.
Welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley, who scored some of the famous knockouts of all time in October 2020, called for White to let him headline an upcoming show in his home city.
He said: “You’re coming back to St. Louis, everybody knows the important event is Derrick Lewis.
“Hey, we love Derrick Lewis, but he doesn’t need to fight five rounds, Dana!
“Come on, switch it up and provides your boy ‘Recent Mansa’ the important event in his hometown. Let’s go!”
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White smirked on the request before earning a chorus of laughter from the 26 fighters sitting behind him and a big portion of the fans contained in the venue.
He replied: “Thanks for coming out today, you guys.”
White’s brutal snub left Buckley feeling somewhat humiliated and he set free fun before sprinting away from the mic and towards the exit door.
Buckley is fresh off a win over long-time contender Vicente Luque.
The 29-year-old is on a three-fight win streak since dropping down from middleweight to 170lbs, and now he’s ranked #11 within the division reigned over by Leon Edwards.
It seems almost certain that Buckley will get to compete in St. Louis on May 11, but he’s got more work to do before White chooses him to headline over a fan favourite heavyweight like Lewis.
