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Nurmagomedov eyes February return, says Anthony Pettis is 'easy money'

Khabib Nurmagomedov hopes to be back in a UFC octagon sometime in February, following surgery to repair a torn right meniscus back in July.

The sambo specialist was recently flown from Russia - where he had been monitoring and paying for his own rehabilitation - to Los Angeles, where Ariel Helwani caught up with the lightweight contender. 

At 22-0, including 6-0 in UFC, Nurmagomedov will be in the title picture at 155 pounds whenever he's able to return. He had been scheduled to fight Donald Cerrone before the injury in what would have likely been a title eliminator, and said that he still wanted to "smash" Cerrone, but clearly has an eye on champion Anthony Pettis.

"Easy money," Nurmagomedov said of the lightweight champ. "No good wrestling, no good defense. He does not know how to say my name. Next year, he will know how."

The UFC will almost surely give the 25-year-old Nurmagomedov a tune-up fight before putting him in the title picture, but an early-summer showdown with Pettis is an enticing and realistic possibility.

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