Unbeaten UFC lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov feels he has done enough to prove he’s a cut above the rest in the division and doesn’t wish to return to work unless championship gold is on the line.

“The Eagle” spoke on Monday’s edition of Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour and had no problem calling out UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis (transcription per MMA Fighting).

"I think I am the No. 1 contender, after Gilbert Melendez,” he said on the show. “ ... I think I’m the No. 1 contender. I am undefeated, 6-0 [in the UFC], 22-0 [overall]. I want after the next fight to have a title shot.”

"I think he [doesn’t] want this fight," he said of Pettis. "I am no good for his style. My pressure, my wrestling, my top control, it’s no good for him. He said he wants to fight Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz lose many times in the UFC, and I am undefeated.”

Pettis, who hasn’t fought in 13 months (since capturing the title from Benson Henderson), recently finished filming season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter – where he served as a head coach opposite Melendez.

The two are expected to settle their differences in a championship matchup at UFC 181 on December 6 – the event’s headlining fight.

Nurmagomedov, who last scored a decisive win over top contender Rafael dos Anjos in April, is the No. 2 lightweight in the world according to the UFC’s official rankings.

The highly-regarded Russian grappler was briefly linked to a UFC 178 showdown with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, but a Nurmagomedov knee injury put a halt to the potential contest.

Should Nurmagomedov be on the shelf for a year in order to get the next crack at UFC gold or should the UFC book him against another top contender before that?