It's fair to say Luke Rockhold is frustrated with being left on the sidelines. 

The American, 36, was knocked out by UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in devastating fashion on the main card of UFC 239 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in July 2019.  

However, Rockhold (16-5) recently resumed training with Khabib Nurmagomedov at American Kickboxing Academy in preparation for a sensational return to the octagon after a long absence. Of course, that is assuming he can find a willing opponent.

During an appearance on the 'Real Quick with Mike Swick' podcast, the former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion claimed that multiple opponents have turned down bouts and he's having trouble finding people to fight him.

"It’s really about fighting someone’s who’s going to fight," Rockhold said to Mike Swick. "I need to fight a top 10 guy who’s ready to sack up and ready to fight.

"There’s already multiple people in the top 10 making excuses why they don’t want to fight me.

"Who the f*** are you to turn down a fight?

"Where’s your entitlement and what you think you have?"

"My last fight [at middleweight], it’s against Yoel Romero missing weight for a world title in Perth two and a half years ago," he added. "I’ve left the rankings, but I haven’t really left the rankings.

"I’m still there just as much as I want to be and everyone knows who I am and what I can do, and I think everyone’s just making excuses to why they don’t want to fight me right now.

"We’ve been hunting down the list and trying to find something credible, something fun, something exciting."

He continued: "I’m not just going to fight anybody.

"It’s like I want something that gets me excited, gets the fans excited and has a little momentum – something that makes somewhat of sense.

"So I want to come back in and I want to do this thing right.

"I’m just here to prove to myself. I just know that I have a lot left to give. I know that I haven’t performed to my potential.

"There’s certain weights and things that have been on my shoulders.

"So I know if I can go out there, and I can be present and give it my all, then I can go out there and do things that no one has ever seen from me yet, and I can go out there and beat everybody in my path."

Read more: UFC 262: Tony Ferguson steals the show with hilarious one-liner at press conference