Khabib Nurmagomedov (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Khabib Nurmagomedov might be returning to the Octagon sooner than some expected.

Since Nurmagomedov won the lightweight title at UFC 223 last month, by defeating Al Iaquinta, the expectation has been that he wouldn’t fight again until the end of 2018. But, in a recent live chat with fans, the undefeated fighter revealed the following (quote via MMA Fighting):

“I don’t know when it’s going to be but now we talk about this with the UFC,” Nurmagomedov said. “It’s going to be maybe 9 September or maybe 6 October. I don’t know about opponent – Conor [McGregor], GSP [Georges St-Pierre], whoever. It doesn’t matter, we’ll see. Next couple of weeks it’s going to be very fun because now we’re beginning to talk about my next fight with the UFC.”

Since the UFC has held a November event in New York City the last two years, there’s been speculation the promotion might look at having Nurmagomedov fight that month, in NYC.