Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Edson Barboza official for UFC 219 in December

Khabib Nurmagomedov is finally set to return to the Octagon.

The Russian lightweight contender has been out of action since a botched weight cut in March pulled him off UFC 209 and damaged his health. Now he'll once again attempt to hit the 155 pound limit in a fight at UFC 219 in December against Edson Barboza.

The UFC's Brazilian social media account confirmed the fight:

Barboza is an explosive fighter that has found himself on the cusp of a lightweight title shot multiple times. His last loss was against current interim champ Tony Ferguson back in 2015. Since then he's won three fights in a row. Khabib Nurmagomedov's record is an impressive 24-0, but he's had issues making it into the cage lately with only two fights since April 2014. There's big questions about his ability to make 155 reliably after two incidents of missed weight and the UFC 209 situation.

A win for Nurmagomedov would put him back into prime position for a title shot, either against champ Conor McGregor or interim champ Tony Ferguson.

UFC 219 goes down in Las Vegas on December 30th, and while it still doesn't feature a main event, the undercard is stacking up quite nicely. Here’s the linup as it sits now:

Edson Barboza vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Dominick Cruz vs. Jimmie Rivera
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Carla Esparza
Matheus Nicolau vs. Louis Smolka
Carlos Condit vs. Neil Magny
Khalil Rountree vs. Gokhan Saki
Rick Glenn vs. Myles Jury
Emil Meek vs. Kamaru Usman
Marc Diakiese vs. Dan Hooker