Tim Kennedy hoping for winner of Vitor Belfort vs. Dan Henderson 3

Tim Kennedy will eventually return to the Octagon. It's just a matter of who it will be against.

Kennedy told UFC Tonight's Ariel Helwani that he asked for Lyoto Machida at UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. VanZant on Dec. 10 in Las Vegas, but Machida was not ready. Now, the former Army Green Beret is targeting the winner of next month's fight between Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson.

Kennedy (18-5) has not fought since a controversial third-round TKO loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 178 in September 2014. Before that, he had won four straight, including a victory over Michael Bisping. He remains one of the top middleweights in the world at 36 years old.

Belfort and Henderson meet in a trilogy bout in the main event of UFC Fight Night 77 on Nov. 7 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The winner would probably not be ready to fight until the first quarter of 2016 at the very earliest. Machida, meanwhile, has not fought since two straight TKO losses to Romero and Luke Rockhold earlier this year.