Michael Chandler reveals the four WWE superstars he 'looked up to' while he was growing up

Michael Chandler recently revealed the names of four WWE superstars he 'looked up to' while growing up.

The former Bellator lightweight champion was a decorated wrestler in high school and also a staple of the University of Missouri's wrestling team. It's not surprising that Michael Chandler had some professional wrestling idols as a child.

In a recent interview with BT Sport, Chandler named Ric Flair, Diamond Dallas Page, Steve Austin and The Rock as some of the stars who were a source of inspiration to him. Michael Chandler told Adam Catterall -

"I was a pro wrestling fan, especially growing up. Ric Flair, Diamond Dallas Page, Steve Austin, The Rock, you know those were the guys I looked up to, wanted to be like. And then now I'm here getting to do it in real fashion in front of millions of people. So having a friend and a new friend like Ric Flair is really cool. And we'll see, I'll try to keep making him proud."

When Ric Flair congratulated Michael Chandler

Michael Chandler will make his bid for the vacant UFC lightweight title in just his second UFC outing at UFC 262.

Chandler was granted the opportunity after a devastating first-round knockout of Dan Hooker in his promotional debut at UFC 257. After the bout, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair facetimed the 34-year-old to congratulate him on the win.

Speaking about his conversation with 'Nature Boy', Michael Chandler said -

"Woo, that was awesome man. That was so cool man. Whenever I got reached out and I was like...I looked at my phone and I said, 'Ric Flair wants to call me?' Then he is like, 'What's up brother?' in typical Ric Flair fashion, you know. Then he's like, 'Man I'm getting a lot of media buzz right now because there was some guy who kocked someone's ass in the UFC'. Then he started using one of our lines and we started talking about a little bit of stuff. 'To be the man, you gotta beat the man!'. It was just so cool."