The former EliteXC lightweight champion wants to fight the winner of the upcoming bout between the Dream lightweight champion and the Strikeforce lightweight champion.

K.J. Noons, who was the EliteXC lightweight champ before that promotion went belly-up in October of 2008, is about to return to fighting for the first time in almost two years when he takes on Andre Dida on Monday at Dream.13. At a press conference to promote the bout, he was asked about Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki, who will fight Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez on April 17.

"I think they are both great fighters," Noons said. "I don't know who will win. I'd like to fight the winner. I just want to fight the best."

I'm not sure that Noons has really earned a shot against the Melendez-Aoki winner, but it would be somewhat fitting to give the EliteXC champion a shot at the belt, as a way of symbolically unifying the Dream, Strikeforce and EliteXC titles, even though Noons was technically stripped of the EliteXC belt before EliteXC went out of business. If Noons beats Dida and looks good doing it, I'd be up for seeing him get theMelendez-Aoki winner next.