How Michael Symon Feels About Going On Tournament Of Champions

March Madness may be the premier sporting event of early spring, but over on the Food Network, there's another annual competition that provides just as much thrill: "Tournament of Champions," which made its debut back in 2020. Hosted by Guy Fieri, the bracket-style culinary event sees a group of chefs face off in head-to-head cooking battles with parameters set by a randomizer machine. Following the cook-off, a blind judging determines which of the two dishes was the best, sending one chef to continue on their journey to be crowned the ultimate champion while their competitor is sent home.

You're not wrong in thinking that "Tournament of Champions" sounds like a difficult game. In fact, two-time competitor Amanda Freitag confirmed last year that the competition is just as intense as "Iron Chef America." And yet, chefs are apparently chomping at the bit to secure a spot in the bracket, especially after Fieri doubled the playing field this year from 16 chefs to 32. "We had hundreds of people, more than hundreds of people, come to us that wanted to compete," he told Parade ahead of TOC's Season 3 premiere.

Competition has included a number of instantly-recognizable chefs like Jet Tila, Antonia Lofaso, and Elizabeth Falkner (via Food Network). However, there is one high-profile Food Network star that has yet to step foot in the ring: Michael Symon, leading many foodies to wonder if he would ever consider taking on the challenge that is "Tournament of Champions."

As an Iron Chef, it's safe to say that Michael Symon is no stranger to cooking competitions, but will we ever see him compete in Food Network's "Tournament of Champions?" Food Sided made the case for the James Beard Award winner before the bracket-style competition debuted in 2020, writing that "there really is no reason why Michael Symon isn't worthy of being the top seed."

The outlet argued that Symon was deserving of at least a two seed, but after three seasons, we've yet to see him secure a spot anywhere in the bracket, leading one fan to go directly to the chef on Twitter this week to ask if he would ever consider stepping foot into the TOC kitchen "just once for the fans."

"Hahaha...prob not but you never know!...there are some chefs on there though that I would love to go up against.." the chef tweeted in response. Symon didn't share what's holding him back from competing in "Tournament of Champions," though scheduling could partially be to blame. As host Guy Fieri explained to Parade, competitors have to "be ready to give over your schedule to get involved in this."

Symon is currently involved in other projects like his new show "Throwdown with Michael Symon," and is working to re-open his Las Vegas restaurant Mabels BBQ as well. Perhaps when things settle down, we'll finally see him on TOC.