Khabib Nurmagomedov insists he is a much-improved fighter since his victory over Conor McGregor .
The UFC lightweight champion has not fought since his fourth-round submission over the Irishman last October.
He was forced to serve a ban following the post-fight riot in Las Vegas but will defend his title against Dustin Poirier in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
And Nurmagomedov expects to display an improved all-round skill set at UFC 242.
"I'm a much better fighter than when I fight with McGregor because I won this fight, and with winning comes experience and with winning comes everything that I have right now," he told The National .
"Before the McGregor fight people talked about striker versus wrestler. But after fight a lot of people changed their mind because in the stand-up he can’t do anything with me - nothing. I gave him a hard punch, and he went down.
"But right now no one talks about this because they understand I can stand with anybody in this division.
"I feel great with my stand-up, I feel great with my grappling, my wrestling, with my pressure, experience. Everything comes together. Right now I feel I'm a much better fighter than before."
Nurmagomedov also said he expects a tougher test against Poirier than McGregor posed.
"I think maybe right now Dustin is a more complete MMA fighter than him because he beat a lot of good guys in the lightweight division and I don’t remember when Conor won in the lightweight division," he added.
"I think he only beat [Eddie] Alvarez and he has only one win in the lightweight division in a long, long time."
