Nurmagomedov planning October return, interim lightweight title fight

After a major setback cost him his first chance at UFC gold, Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to pick up right where he left off.

Nurmagomedov told Russian site ToFight.ru that he plans to return to competition in October and challenge for the UFC interim lightweight championship.

"Regarding health - I have nearly completed rehabilitation," said Nurmagomedov, according to a translation from Karim Zidan of Bloody Elbow. "I will start to train somewhere in the middle of June. The return is planned for October because I need four months of full training. As for the match, I think that 90 percent I will fight for the interim title."

With current 155-lb champion Conor McGregor currently pursuing a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson were supposed to fight for an interim title at UFC 209 this past March. On the morning of that event's weigh-ins, Nurmagomedov was hospitalized with an illness and forced to withdraw from the bout.

It was the third time Nurmagomedov and Ferguson had been booked to fight, with maladies suffered by both men preventing their previous meetings. Though some might suggest the pairing is cursed, Nurmagomedov insists an interim title bout with Ferguson is still the only one that makes sense.

"Who I'm going to fight is not yet known, but of course I will insist on a fight with Tony Ferguson because now I do not see any other contenders and I do not want to fight with anyone but him," Nurmagomedov said.