NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal recently appeared on Access Hollywood , where he discussed his recent tag team match against Cody Rhodes. Shaq “Diesel” explained why he chose the ring gear he ended up wearing, telling Access:

“Look, Cody challenged me to a fight, I’m showing up in fight clothes, sweatpants and a tank top. I respect him, I respect his family, I respect all the wrestlers, what they’ve done. I don’t want to come in with a gimmicky costume. This man challenged me to a fight. I’m showing up like it’s going to be a fight. So I’m just going to wear sweatpants and a tank top”.

“The Big Aristotle” also explained how the show’s host, and former Saved By The Bell star, Mario Lopez inspired him to stay in shape. When speaking to Lopez, O’Neal explained:

“Guess who motivated me? One day I was looking on the internet and I’d seen my good friend Mario Lopez take his shirt off and I got jealous because we used to hang out back in the day. We used to look similar and now you’re killing me, so I wanted to say thank you for motivating me. You look fabulous. I want to say I’m proud of you. But I’ll be ready tonight, March 3rd, I’ll be ready”.

Would you like to see more of the NBA Hall of Famer in the ring? Sound off in the comments section!

(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)