Kevin Lee knows he has to take the long road back to prominence, but he still has lofty plans for his career.

The one-time UFC interim title challenger makes his MMA return this Saturday at Lights Out Championship 17, with big goals still in mind; one of which, is earning a fight with current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

“I want to fight for a world title,” Lee told MMA Fighting. “I just want to fight the best guys. Am I hung up on the organizations? Not really. I want to fight the best guys and the guys that really will give me a challenge, who people feel are unbeatable.

“I think it’s a shame I never got to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov. It’s a shame if I don’t ever get to fight Islam in his career. I think I pose threats for those guys that not a lot of other lightweights do, and I think a lot of people would, would agree with that. So it’d be kind of a shame if they go their whole careers and not fight a wrestler like me.”

“Motown Phenom” faces Thiago Oliveira in his home state of Michigan on Saturday. It’s Lee’s first bout since a 55-second submission loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov at UFC Vegas 96 in July 2023, which signaled the end to Lee’s second stint with the UFC.

The 32-year-old went 11-8 in 19 octagon appearances, which included a spot in an interim lightweight title fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 217 in October 2017, when he lost via third-round submission. Since then, Lee is 3-5 over his past eight bouts, which includes an absolutely brutal knockout win over Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244 in November 2019, and a victory over Diego Sanchez for Eagle FC in his bridge-fight between UFC stints.

With so much experience, and more lessons learned than he can imagine, Lee is excited and humbled to hit the reset button and live up to the limitless potential he entered the sport with.

“It feels like at the start of my career again — which in itself has a little bit of excitement to it,” Lee said. “It almost feels like a second chance, it feels like a chance to do it all over again. It’s interesting. I don’t see many people going down this path either, I don’t think a lot of guys, when they get to a certain level, that they’re willing to put their balls on the line. I’ve seen it happen over and over and over again with different guys, and I just don’t model myself after anybody.

“I’m going to do what I feel is in my heart to do, and it’s in my heart to fight and this is the fight that’s in front of me. This is the opportunity that God’s presented me and I’m going to make the most out of it.”