Fighters Only

Issue 011

March 2006

By Ken Pishna

This month, not only do we have a fighter with some kick ass ink on his skin, we have Mike Nickels who is also a tattoo artist himself. Mike is the co-owner of Twisted Sol, the premier tattoo and piercing shop in Denver, Colorado, USA.

With an overall fight record of 3-1, Mike’s career is off to a good start. Participating in various martial arts over the years, his strength in the ring is his ground game. Mike has taken to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and this has quickly become the focus of his fighting style. That’s not to say that he won’t go toe-to-toe, but his skill on the ground has consistently improved at a blistering pace.

Mike also tried out for the second season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s reality show. Reportedly, he made it all the way down to the final round of cuts for the heavyweights on the show before being told that they just felt he was lacking in size for the heavyweight division. Normally walking around at about 215lbs or so, they told Mike they had a strong interest in bringing him back for the third season of the show, which will again feature light heavyweights.

Tattooing for more than ten years now, Mike says that he was actually an elephant trainer first. Sounds crazy, but he says that for three years he trained elephants for movies and other performances. Originally turned down to become an apprentice for an established tattoo artist, Mike purchased the necessary equipment himself and, with a longtime passion for drawing, basically trained himself to lay down ink.

Through his journey as an artist Mike has traveled all over the world, both to practice his art and to receive work from other artists. His travels have seen him through Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France and Japan. Nearly everywhere he has gone he has come back with an additional amount of ink to commemorate his journey. “It’s kind of a way to bring back a little bit of where I’ve been with me when I return home,” says Mike.

When asked why so many fighters have tattoos, he broke it down like this, “Basically, fighters with tattoos, like most people, fall into two groups: those that get lifestyle tattoos and those that get tattoos to look tough or cool.”

Mike definitely falls into the first category. For him tattoos are a lifestyle, not a status symbol. His love of the art began long before his fight career and will probably last well after he’s done fighting too.

The ink that Mike puts down is nothing short of amazing. With tremendous attention to detail and brilliant color, his tattooing reflects his worldly attitude. To see some of Mike’s work and to find out more about him and Twisted Sol, you can check out their website at www.twistedsol.com.

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The tattoo at the base of Mike’s neck is a Japanese demon, which is symbolic of Japanese folklore and tells the story of a man that was unfaithful to his wife. The man’s wife then turned into a demon.