UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is going to make a highly-awaited MMA comeback. To make up for the lost time, Khabib is planning to have a busy fighting schedule when he officially returns to the cage. According to his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, Khabib is targeting at least 3 UFC fights in 8 months.

Nurmagomedov last fought in October 2018 where he defeated Conor McGregor at UFC 229. However, a post-fight melee at UFC 229 landed him a nine-month suspension. The Russian champ is still serving that suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. And he will be able to compete again when the ban expires this July.

Khabib is expected to make a comeback on September 7 against interim champion Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi. The undefeated lightweight star is not only eying to headline UFC 242 but also looking forward to fighting two more times before Ramadan in 2020.

This means Khabib is planning three big fights in eight months, which might also include a fantastic fight against legendary Georges St-Pierre. In a recent interview, Abdelaziz revealed that Khabib will make up for the time he lost during his suspension. “He gave me very specific instructions. He said he wants to fight September 7, and again in December. If Georges St-Pierre can figure things out with the UFC by April, that’s the deal. He would like that fight in April. If not, it can be any contender,” said Abdelaziz.

After beating McGregor last October, the fight against Poirier in September would be Khabib’s first title defense. In his professional MMA career, Khabib remains undefeated after 27 fights. If this continues after the September fight, he wants to defend his belt again in December. Khabib is looking confident to defend his 155-pound throne and might also go for a war against one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Georges St-Pierre in April.

St-Pierre, 37, made an announced to retire from MMA in December. However, at the time of this announcement, St-Pierre expressed his willingness to face Nurmagomedov. In response, Nurmagomedov said on the social media that he would also like to fight the retiring star.

As far as the Irish fighter McGregor is concerned, Khabib and his team are not interested in a rematch. Although Conor McGregor desperately wants to rematch with Nurmagomedov, the title champion is not considering him right now. “To be honest, Conor is going to have to go out there and fight somebody like Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson or Cowboy (Cerrone). He’s not a worthy enough opponent right now. That’s the feeling from all of us, as a team,” says Abdelaziz.

With the upcoming three fights in 8 months, Khabib Nurmagomedov is going to have a busy fighting schedule. However, Abdelaziz is confident that Nurmagomedov is capable of doing this as he has earlier also fought three times in less than a year. “The lightweight division has a lot of contenders, and we need to keep the division going. Khabib has done this before. He fought [Edson Barboza], Al [Iaquinta] and Conor [McGregor] in less than one year [from December 2017 to October 2018],” he said.