Justin Gaethje is looking to prove a point against UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

Gaethje returns to the Octagon when he faces Dustin Poirier in a rematch for the BMF title that will headline the UFC 291 pay-per-view event this Saturday in Salt Lake City.

The winner will most likely fight the winner of the UFC 294 headliner between Makhachev and Charles Oliveira.

Should Makhachev defend his title again, Gaethje believes the fighter with the best chance of beating him is UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who many believe should have won their first meeting.

However, Gaethje believes he is more than equipped to do so as well — as he believes Makhachev is far from former UFC lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“If we’re going off of what we know then it’s gonna be [Alexander] Volkanovski because he already fought him and it was a really close fight,” Gaethje told Shakiel Mahjouri (via MMA Fighting). “I’ve never fought him, Poirier’s never fought him. I guess if you want to say someone it could be the 125-pound champion (Alexandre Pantoja). Who knocked him out? I was gonna make fun of [Brendan Schaub] … I’ve made fun of him so much.

“I think Volkanovski is the answer for now, but I can’t wait to get in there. I know for a fact he’s not Khabib and I want to go in there and prove that.”

Of course, Oliveira was initially unavailable for UFC 294 which takes place Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi.

But even if the Brazilian wasn't given the next shot, Justin Gaethje — a firm opponent of short-notice fights — doubts he'd have been able to make the quick turnaround for Abu Dhabi if he defeated Poirier.

“The UFC isn’t going to protect you,” Gaethje explained. “It’s just the name of the game. You got to take time between these fights. Not just the fights but the training camp we just went through. I’ve just been through 12 weeks of training. Extremely hard, six days a week, and your body gets broken down. It’s something that you really got to focus on is understanding you gotta go through a healing process every single time you step in there.

“The physical aspect, but I would say even the mental aspect, is a traumatic life experience every time you step in there. And you really gotta take some time to heal every time you do that.”