"My goal was and still is the same - to become the UFC champion and to be the top ranked fighter. And I'm challenging Chimaev for a reason: I think he's really good. And I want to fight the best of the best.
People didn't like my performance in the fight against Paul Craig. But on the contrary, I thought it was a great step in the right direction. I dominated the fight against a veteran with only standup action. What, now I'm gonna be told I'm not ready to fight guys of Craig's caliber? No, guys, I can fight. I sure can," Nickal said on the Pound4Pound podcast.