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LAS VEGAS – Dustin Poirier knows he has only a number of good years left in his fighting career. He intends on maximizing those, and his primary goal is to erase the “asterisk” that sticks out on his resume.

Poirier (25-6 MMA, 17-5 UFC) can’t walk away from MMA satisfied with just being the interim UFC lightweight champion. He missed out on the undisputed belt when he suffered a submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title unifier last September, and that outcome serves as his driving force moving forward.

“The Diamond” has been sidelined since the fight with Nurmagomedov because of a longtime hip injury, which he finally had surgery on. He’s targeting an April return to the octagon and said he hopes it’s the beginning of his climb back to an undisputed title bout.

“My ultimate goal is to become the undisputed world champion,” Poirier told MMA Junkie. “I cannot just go on with my career chasing big fights or just exciting fights. Those are the things I want to be part of. I want to entertain the fans and put on great fights and have ‘Fight of the Nights’ and have exiting matchups, but at the same time I want to be the undisputed world champion. I don’t want to have an asterisk next to my accomplishments for the rest of my life. I don’t want everybody to say ‘interim champ’ every time someone says Dustin was the champion.”

Finally healthy, Poirier said the next handful of fights will reveal his finest form. He’s already been fighting professionally for nearly 11 years, and he knows for a fact he doesn’t have another 11 in him.

That means the clock is ticking, and if he wants to fulfill his goals, he must take advantage.

“Being honest with myself, I know where I’m at in my career,” Poirier said. “I feel like the best years are the next few. Two to three years, I think that’s going to be my prime this next two to three. But honestly, I’m on the back nine in my career. I have 41 fights; I’m about to be 31. That’s just being real when I look myself in the mirror. It could be longer than that, but I think the next three years are going to be prime fight years for me.

“When I used to be really close with Robbie Lawler – not that we’re not close (now) – but he used to tell me around 32 is when he felt his best, and he’s a guy who started young. Mike Brown told me the same thing. I want to work my way back to that title shot and be the undisputed world champion, or else my career and legacy will have an asterisk next to world champion, because I was the interim world champion. I don’t want it to be like that. I want to be the undisputed world champion and raise my hands in the air one more time and wear gold.”

In search of his next opponent, Poirier said he’s just playing the waiting game. He said the UFC has yet to come to him with a fight offer since Nurmagomedov, but that’s largely because he’s been injured. He’s been cleared by doctors and the people around him to take a fight, though, and he’s keen to see what matchmakers come up with.

Poirier has emphasized multiple times in recent months that he wants a matchup that gets his blood flowing. Nate Diaz, Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor are just some of the names he’s been linked to, but Poirier said he’s been given no indication of where the UFC brass is leaning.

“The way it works, if I let them know I’m healthy, which I have,” Poirier said. “I’m back in training full time, and they call me with fights. It doesn’t work the other way. I don’t call them and say, ‘Hey, I’m fighting this guy at this date.’ They know I’m healthy. I feel good, I’m working again, and I’m back in the gym. I’m working on my craft and getting better. I don’t want to just sit around. I want to fight three times in 2020. That’s my goal. Whether that’s April, May – whatever that is. I want to fight three times this year. I’m just waiting on the call. I’m feeling good, getting my weight down, getting my technique sharp, and I want to fight in April.”

If Poirier can achieve his three-fight plan for 2020, he said he’ll be in a very good spot. He wants that 155-pound title. And while it would be nice to avenge a loss to Nurmagomedov in the process, he doesn’t care who is holding the strap when the time comes for him to challenge for it again.

“Either the world champion or closing the year out with a title shot – that’s realistic,” Poirier said. “I’m No. 2 (in the UFC’s rankings). Maybe one or two big fights, big wins away from another crack at it. Of course, every time I get beat out there I want to avenge those losses. I’m sure every fighter does. It’s not much about the revenge. It’s about the gold. Whoever has that, that’s the fight I want.

“I know what comes along with that. I get to put my hands in the air and say I’m the best in the world. I know the opportunities that come along with the belt. I got a small taste of that with the piece of the world title that I had. That’s where I want to be.”