Khabib Nurmagomedov has laid down the challenge.

Earlier this month, the UFC lightweight champion listed a few names that he would fight next if he can’t battle it out with Conor McGregor or Georges St-Pierre.

The current UFC lightweight champion is slowly but surely preparing to defend his strap this fall and has a few names in mind for his next potential title defense.

But they are not the clear-cut names you might think of due to the fact that McGregor and GSP are currently not available due to various issues.

His latest bout was the biggest fight thus far in his pro-MMA career and he had to go through some hurdles to make it happen in the main event of the UFC 223 pay-per-view event as it went through three official changes that include the UFC attempted to book Nurmagomedov against Tony Ferguson as well as Max Holloway and eventually fighting Al Iaquinta.

If it can’t be against GSP or McGregor then it could be fighting the winner of an exciting fight that the UFC is planning, which is the second fight between Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier at UFC on FOX 30.

However, with McGregor’s legal troubles behind him after he agreed to a plea deal that will have a record of guilty of disorderly conduct charge.

By doing this, it will see him do five days of community service, anger management classes and have to pay restitution for the damage to the bus.

Now, the UFC champion is now eyeing a fight with McGregor as he immediately issued a callout to McGregor and his team to MMA Junkie for a fight at either the UFC 229 or UFC 230 pay-per-view event.

“Glad that he stayed out of jail, because I wouldn’t be able to punish him in that case. Now he needs to bring his Irish team to (Madison Square Garden) in November and finish our business.”

The UFC 229 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

The UFC 230 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York City with the main card airing on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.