It looks like former interim UFC lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee has given up on landing a fight against Nate Diaz down the road.

Diaz hasn't fought since August of 2016 after losing a Majority Decision to Conor McGregor at UFC 202 in their highly-anticipated rematch. It was one of the best fights of the year and opened up the door for a possibly trilogy right between the rivals.

McGregor has since won the lightweight title and fought in the world of boxing, in a losing effort, against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Upon his return it's expected he'll defend his title before fighting Diaz again.

Diaz has recently been expressing interest in fighting again, and soon. Lee threw his name in the hat but has received no response from Diaz on the matter. Instead Diaz is rumored to take on UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.

In a recent interview on Cage Side Submissions, Lee revealed that he has given up on his attempts to fight Diaz and has shifted his focus to calling out Edson Barboza (quotes via MMA Mania):

“I don’t know how folks jumped on the Nate bandwagon so hard, folks just think he is such a fighter, but the man doesn’t want to fight, that’s the bottom line,” Lee said during a recent interview on Cage Side Submissions (via Fan Sided).

“If a man doesn’t want to fight, I’m not a bully. I’m not going to keep berating him and going at him.

“Right now I’m looking at Barboza. I think Barboza is a great fight, a really good matchup for me.

"He fought a lot of the guys who are at the top and I’m gonna whoop his ass harder than Khabib did,” Lee explained.

“I’m also looking at somebody like Eddie Alvarez who is up there without a fight, he’s sitting on the sidelines, he’s trying to avoid me as much as he can.

"There’s a couple of fights that I’m looking at, that I’m interested in.

"They are not all necessarily above me, obviously, that’s where you want to look but really those rankings don’t mean shit, and they don’t mean shit to me.”

What are your thoughts on Lee saying that he has shifted his focus to a possible fight with Edson Barboza? Do you think he should've given up on a possible fight against Nate Diaz so soon? Who do you think Lee will ultimately be fighting against next? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below!

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