Nicolas Lozada

Connect What inspired your most recent tattoo?

Last month I got a full stomach fu dog tattoo by Teej Pole! I love tattoos that are fierce and in-your-face and I saw some pictures of fu dogs in Pinterest. I'm running out of space on my body for tattoos, but my stomach was still empty. So I thought, what's more fierce and in-your-face than a big, snarling fu dog on my stomach. So I hit Teej up and we knocked it out in two consecutive days. He fucking killed it.

If your ink could speak, what would it say?

I think it would say something like "This man wants to be seen. He wants to stand out. He wants to be different." As a kid, I struggled very badly with anxiety and low self-esteem. It wasn't often I saw someone with full body tattoos, but whenever I did, I was fucking mesmerized. The ink looked like armor. They looked so confident, so different - they stood out in the best way possible, dude. Like a fucking beautiful peacock with its feathers splayed. I wanted to feel like this, and no

What would you do with the $25,000?

I am a competitive Muay Thai fighter, and I also recently started an apparel company that fuses streetwear and Muay Thai culture. I would put about half of the $25,000 towards opening up my own Muay Thai gym in the Washington, D.C. area as well as kickstarting my apparel company. It'd be the best damn gym in the area - I'd be able to teach others how to defend themselves, and in doing so, help them be more confident. I would put the other half of the $25,000 towards helping my mom financially.