NEW YORK – Andre Petroski wants a piece of Bo Nickal in MMA or the grappling mats.

Petroski (8-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) says he’s asked for wrestling standout and newly signed UFC middleweight Nickal (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on numerous occasions but to no avail.

“I’ve called him out so many times,” Petroski told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC 281 media day. “We tried to get him twice. I didn’t expect him to fight me, but I thought that he would at least grapple me. I have a lot more experience in martial arts than he does, but if he’s gonna sit there and say ‘I’m the best,’ all right then show it. Grapple me then. So I continue to call him out, and he continues to say no, so at this point, it is what it is.”

Nickal is yet to make his octagon debut, but if both men’s career trajectories continue to rise like Petroski expects them to, he says a future showdown will have to happen.

“As I continue to prove my argument that I’m the best grappler, he’s not gonna be able to deny it anymore,” Petroski said. “Or else he’s gonna have to shut up and be like, ‘All right, I can’t say this sh*t no more. I can’t stand up here and speak f*cking gibberish.’”

He continued, “I just want to keep making the same argument: I’m the best grappler in this division, and I’m gonna go out and continuously prove it. I showed it with Maximov, I showed it with the (Eryk) Anders grappling match. I’m just gonna continue to go out and show it.”

Petroski will look to continue proving his grappling prowess when he faces Wellington Turman (18-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 281 event at Madison Square Garden. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.