When Khabib Nurmagomedov captured the UFC lightweight championship last month, the expectation would have been that he would have built on his feared reputation as he extended his ridiculous unbeaten record to 26-0.

Instead, The Eagle now has more fighters than ever calling him out for a championship fight. Conor McGregor clearly wants to get his hands on the Dagestan native, while Tony Ferguson will be hoping the UFC tries to book a fight against his long-time rival for the fifth time.

CHALLENGERS

While Nurmagomedov will be enjoying some time off during Ramadan and potentially returning at the end of the year, the lightweight championship picture should be clearer.

El Cucuy and the Notorious will arguably be at the top of the list, Kevin Lee recently called him out after dominating Edson Barboza, Dustin Poirier is one of many who doesn’t think Nurmagomedov deserves to be called the real champion after taking 11th ranked Al Iaquinta the distance and Eddie Alvarez believes he’s Khabib’s Kryptonite and the only fighter in the 155-pound division who can beat him.

Now, featherweight contender Brian Ortega has Khabib firmly on his radar. First, though, he needs to get past Max Holloway for the featherweight championship - the man who originally replaced Ferguson to take on Nurmagomedov in Brooklyn at UFC 223.

Blessed and T-City will go at it for the gold at UFC 226, but recently told MMA Junkie why a clash against the Russian intrigues him. Ortega believes his skills from the bottom can trouble Khabib and will chase him as soon as he defeats Holloway on July 7.

RADAR

According to Bloody Elbow, he said: “Not too many people present a good ground game from the bottom, they survive a little bit, and it’s kind of boring.

“But not too many people are attacking from the bottom, hurting with elbows. They don’t bring that kind of game because it takes a long time to develop. Whereas me, I grew up in that situation, where I was always the bottom guy, always getting beat up by these guys. So, I had to adapt my game to that.

“It’s on my radar. I have a big fight right now, but that one, for sure, it’s on the radar. I have to be successful on July 7, and hopefully, I can make that happen after.”

If he can get past the Hawaiian, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Ortega take on Nurmagomedov.

Heading into the Barboza fight, Khabib revealed he could move down in weight if he wanted to, while Ortega revealed that he accept a fight against Nurmagomedov before Holloway did, and missed out on the title fight.

With Ortega throwing his name into the mix, the lightweight division can finally thrive again with Khabib being forced to take on the best.

What do you make of Brian Ortega having Khabib Nurmagomedov on his radar? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.