MONCTON, Canada – Michael Johnson believes he’s still the fighter who has given Khabib Nurmagomedov his toughest test inside the octagon. Because of that, he expects to rematch the UFC lightweight champion in the future.

Johnson (18-13 MMA, 10-9 UFC), who meets Artem Lobov (13-14-1 MMA, 2-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 138 co-headliner, suffered a second-round submission loss to Nurmagomedov (27-0 MMA, 11-0 UFC) in November 2016. Although he was stopped, “The Menace” had a strong first-round moment in the fight when he landed some vicious punches that seemed to stagger Nurmagomedov.

Although he’s currently fighting in the featherweight division, Johnson said a return to 155 pounds is definitely in his future. With that, he vows to get a rematch with Nurmagomedov, but this time the result will go the other way.

“I wasn’t comfortable in that fight, and I still hurt him,” Johnson told MMAjunkie at UFC Fight Night 138 media day. “I was thinking about his wrestling. But keep this in mind, and this is for sure: I will face Khabib again, and this time it’s going to be a different scenario. I’m working my way back up to that lightweight division because three of the top five guys I’ve beaten. It’s definitely on my mind, and he’s definitely back in my mind to get that fight again. So once I get done with my business at ’45, we’re going to be seeing him shortly.”

UFC Fight Night 138 takes place at SMG Moncton. Johnson vs. Lobov co-headlines the FS1-televised main card following prelims on FS2 and UFC Fight Pass.

Lobov originally was supposed to fight Zubaira Tukhugov at the event, but Tukhugov was pulled from the card for his involvement in the brawl following Nurmagomedov’s victory over Conor McGregor at UFC 229 earlier this month.

Johnson said he was somewhat concerned about his ability to make the 146-pound featherweight limit on roughly two weeks’ notice, but he accepted anyway. He said the weight started shedding off quickly once he got in the gym to start preparing, and now he’s glad he jumped on the opportunity.

“I got the call, I was like 175 (pounds) or something like that,” Johnson said. “I was like, ‘Ah 30 pounds.’ I was like, ‘OK, screw it. Let’s go.’ It just happened. My weight started coming off, and it felt good. Literally within a week-and-a-half, two weeks, I had just as good as a camp as somebody with a six-to-eight-week camp. I got sick, I got hurt, I was going through tough times, I was getting stressed out. All that combined within two weeks was a lot, but I feel good, I feel great. I’m ready to perform.”

Lobov said he was presented with several opponent options to replace Tukhugov, but claims he “chose” Johnson because it was the toughest test. Johnson said he respects that mentality but intends on showing Lobov that he made the wrong choice.

Johnson sees major upside in fighting Lobov, though. Lobov has a sub-.500 record in the sport, but Johnson said the fact he’s a teammate of McGregor at SBG Ireland and has somewhat of a cult following made it more than worth it.

“That’s one of the reasons I took this fight, because of his following and the big hype that he has around him,” Johnson said. “It’s perfect position for me to get in here, get a big win, get a statement, and then some hype starts coming around my name name. I don’t think anyone has finished him. He went five rounds with Cub (Swanson), and Cub’s been a top-five featherweight for years. He’s one of the greatest. So I come in here and finish this guy, nobody has done it, and there’s going to be some talking.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 138, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.