Khabib Nurmagomedov has backed Dustin Poirier to be crowned the UFC lightweight champion before the end of the year.
The Diamond is set to face Conor McGregor for a third time on July 10 in Las Vegas, with the score currently 1-1 between them.
The winner of that bout is expected to face newly crowned lightweight champion Charles Oliveira later this year and Nurmagomedov appears to believe Poirier will get the better of the Dubliner again.
"When Islam Makhachev rises in the rankings, Oliveira will no longer be champion,” Khabib told Sport 24 .
“The main thing is that Oliveira should understand my words correctly. I respect him, he is a worthy champion. But when Islam will go up, there will be another champion within the year.
"In my eyes it will be Dustin Poirier.”
The American has been told he has a "big advantage" going into the trilogy fight by Sylvester Stallone.
The actor told TMZ: "That's a tough one. That is a real tough one.
"That one I swear you really flip a coin on. It's like who hits first.
"You got a really hungry, young guy [Poirier] and then you got a guy who's made a lot of money but he's also sort of hungry [McGregor].
"You have two guys that are psychologically a little hesitant, but Poirier has the big-time advantage."
